Bronze dragon-type fibula (safety pin)

Bronze dragon-type fibula (safety pin)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

These three pieces are excellent examples of a type of dragon fibula with elongated clasp and bow embellished by pairs of bronze bud-like knobs. Normally, only three or four pairs of knobs are used, but on two of the examples shown here (1991.171.17, .18), there are eight, no doubt a reflection of the original owner's high status. The type appears to have been confined to the ancient regions of Campania and Samnium in South-central Italy.


Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Bronze dragon-type fibula (safety pin)Bronze dragon-type fibula (safety pin)Bronze dragon-type fibula (safety pin)Bronze dragon-type fibula (safety pin)Bronze dragon-type fibula (safety pin)

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.