Lid and end panels of a lead sarcophagus

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This coffin has been attributed to a workshop at Tyre on the grounds of its decorative elements and the fact that the two end panels have different designs—one a temple façade, and the other a star pattern of rosettes. The motifs were impressed into the lead with stamps, often used repeatedly. Although all of the sarcophagus (apart from its base) has survived, the lead is now too brittle and delicate to allow a complete reconstruction.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Museum's collection of Greek and Roman art comprises more than thirty thousand works ranging in date from the Neolithic period (ca. 4500 B.C.) to the time of the Roman emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity in A.D. 312. It includes the art of many cultures and is among the most comprehensive in North America. The geographic regions represented are Greece and Italy, but not as delimited by modern political frontiers: Greek colonies were established around the Mediterranean basin and on the shores of the Black Sea, and Cyprus became increasingly Hellenized. For Roman art, the geographical limits coincide with the expansion of the Roman Empire. The department also exhibits the art of prehistoric Greece (Helladic, Cycladic, and Minoan) and pre-Roman art of Italic peoples, notably the Etruscans.

Metropolitan Museum of Art