Bronze mare and foal

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Here, a mare is nursing her foal in a less austere manner when compared to other artworks of the period. The body parts are cylindrical and rubbery with minimal articulation. The figurines are fixed on a rectangular plinth with three rows of triangles pierced straight through. Aesthetically, this elongated base significantly influences the three-dimensional effect of the piece. Such bases with openwork (perhaps used as stamps) appeared after the middle of the 8th century BCE and disappeared towards the end of the Geometric period. Thousands of early bronze horses were found in most sanctuaries of ancient Greece, especially in Olympia. They served primarily as personal offerings to the gods.

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