Glass mosaic inlay fragment

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Translucent deep turquoise blue, partially mixed with yellow appearing green, purple appearing brick red, and opaque yellow. Flat, triangular plaque, with part of one beveled edge; uneven underside with tooling indents. Marbled mosaic pattern in green ground with yellow streaks, swirls, and rods, with two minute areas in red. Large chip at one corner; polished upper side; pitting of surface bubbles; dulling and creamy weathering on underside and two edges; one straight edge ground flat. Part of a revetment plaque or inlay with marbled pattern. A combination of opaque yellow and translucent blue glass gives the bright green color.

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