Glass mosaic inlay fragment

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Translucent cobalt blue and opaque white. Thin, flat strip or panel, with straight sides and angled ends; uneven surface on underside. Bands of streaky white overlay on upper surface; one broad central band of white on blue ground on underside. Some edges chipped and uneven; polished upper surface; pitting of surface bubbles on upper surface; dulling and creamy weathering on underside and edges. Probably used as decoration in wall or ceiling revetment or as inlay for furniture.

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