Bronze mitra (belly guard)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

These three mitrai were found on Crete with the two helmets exhibited above. They were suspended from belts to protect the lower abdomen. One, with a depiction of the foreparts of horses, is inscribed "Synenitos, the son of Euklotas, [took] this." Another, with the foreparts of winged horses, is inscribed "Aisonidas, the son of Kloridios, took this." The third mitra is decorated with two sphinxes. Such heraldic representations of fantastic animals were derived from Near Eastern prototypes.

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