Bronze foot in the form of a sphinx

Bronze foot in the form of a sphinx

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Between the eighth and sixth centuries B.C., elaborate bronze vessels were among the preeminent creations of Greek artists. This foot was probably one of three supporting an extremely large, shallow basin. Mythological creatures such as the sphinx here and the griffin (1972.118.54) nearby should be understood as guardian figures not simply decoration.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Bronze foot in the form of a sphinxBronze foot in the form of a sphinxBronze foot in the form of a sphinxBronze foot in the form of a sphinxBronze foot in the form of a sphinx

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.