Terracotta pyxis (cylindrical box)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Most of the Minoan palace centers on Crete were destroyed around 1450 bce, marking the end of the Minoan influence on arts and crafts throughout the Aegean region. These sites were later occupied and rebuilt by Mycenaeans from mainland Greece, and pottery produced on Crete during this period reflects the introduction of new artistic styles and vessel shapes. While the painted decoration on pottery of Postpalatial Crete is not as fine as the earlier works produced in the palace workshops, the quality of potting and the pyrotechnology reached a high point. This pyxis is a variation of the characteristic Minoan type, which typically has a taller cylindrical body.

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