Glass mosaic fragment

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Base ring fragment, probably from a deep, footed ribbed bowl. Translucent deep purple and opaque white. Outsplayed base ring with rounded edge; almost straight side rising upward. Ribbon mosaic pattern formed from sections of a single cane in purple ground with irregular white threads. Polished interior; pitting of surface bubbles on interior; dulling and creamy iridescent weathering on exterior, edge of base, and jagged edges.

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