Glass mosaic fragment

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Thin-walled body fragment. Translucent cobalt blue, opaque yellow and white, and colorless. Slightly curving side. Mosaic pattern formed from polygonal sections of a single cane in a colorless ground with numerous fine radiating yellow spokes around and blue circle and central rod of uncertain color; on one corner, a small white patch (from rim coil?). Polished exterior; pitting of surface bubbles and deep weathering of central rod on exterior; pitting and creamy weathering on interior and parts of edges. The cane pattern resembles that found on Hellenistic bowls and dishes.

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