Glass mosaic fragment

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Body fragment. Translucent deep purple, turquoise blue partially appearing green, opaque white and yellow. Convex curving side. Mosaic pattern formed from polygonal sections of two canes: one in a purple ground with a hollow white circle and an inner, small yellow circle around a central blue rod, and the other in a blue ground with an indeterminate pattern (spiral?) in yellow. Polished exterior; pitting and slight weathering of surface bubbles on exterior; dulling and creamy iridescent weathering on interior and three edges; one edge unweathered.

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