Sard intaglio portrait of a woman

Sard intaglio portrait of a woman

Solon

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Many of the finest Late Hellenistic and Early Imperial gems were signed by their makers. This one is unsigned, but the treatment of the eye, straight nose, broad cheeks, and rounded chin, combined with the general aspect of classicism, is typical of gems engraved and signed by the master craftsman Solon. It may have been cut by him or by one of his circle.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Sard intaglio portrait of a womanSard intaglio portrait of a womanSard intaglio portrait of a womanSard intaglio portrait of a womanSard intaglio portrait of a woman

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.