Terracotta stamnos (jar)

Terracotta stamnos (jar)

Painter of London B 343

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Obverse, chariot setting out Reverse, five hoplites (foot soldiers) Representations of Attic symposia (drinking parties) occasionally include stamnoi, indicating that they contained wine; they typically had lids. The decoration here juxtaposes aspects of heroic and contemporary warfare. The chariot evokes a bygone era described in Homer's epics of the Trojan War. The two figures in Scythian dress and the footsoldiers on both sides represent contemporary warriors. The painter was particularly inventive with the shield devices.


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.