Bronze statue of a man

Bronze statue of a man

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The figure stands in contrapposto. His right hand stretches out from the folds of his himation, with open palm and fingers curled upward in a gesture of oration. His left arm lays close to his body. The himation is kept in place in part by a tasselled weight, thrown over his left shoulder, which hangs at his calf. A rare detail, several horizontal bands decorate the fabric, and may have been painted or gilded. The indication of his musculature and anatomy continues underneath his garment. Honorific statues like this one were typically portraits of prominent individuals awarded by the city-state or ruler in gratitude for significant benefactions. They were the highest honor that a city could offer. This impressive figure stands in contrapposto. His right hand stretches out from the folds of his himation (cloak), with open palm and fingers curled upward in a gesture of oration. His left arm lies close to his body. The himation is kept in place in part by the tasseled weight thrown over his left shoulder, which hangs at his calf, and the indication of his musculature and anatomy continues underneath his garment. The several horizontal bands that decorate the fabric,which may have been painted or gilded, comprise a rare detail.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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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.