Capital fragment from a funerary shrine (naiskos)

Capital fragment from a funerary shrine (naiskos)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

A pair of volutes from one corner of a small limestone capital and the flat abacus which they supported are carved in an elaborate openwork manner. Dentils decorate the sides of the abacus and a palmette is placed a the base of each volute.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Capital fragment from a funerary shrine (naiskos)Capital fragment from a funerary shrine (naiskos)Capital fragment from a funerary shrine (naiskos)Capital fragment from a funerary shrine (naiskos)Capital fragment from a funerary shrine (naiskos)

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.