Terracotta skyphos (deep drinking cup)

Vine Tendril Group

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Obverse, reclining man and three crones (the Judgment of Paris?) Reverse, ogress pursuing three pygmies The Kabirion is a sanctuary on the outskirts of Thebes in Boeotia dedicated to the Kabiroi, deities associated with fertility and the sea. Their cult included mysteries whose introduction is ascribed to the goddess Demeter. A distinctive variety of pottery, known as Cabiric vases, was produced from the late fifth through the late fourth century B.C. This example is characteristic in shape, subject, and technique. Such works may reflect farces performed in conjunction with the mysteries. They are contemporary with representations of Middle Comedy and the phlyax vases.

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