Marble head of Demosthenes

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Copy of a Greek bronze statue by Polyeuktos of ca. 280 B.C. Demosthenes (ca. 384–322 b.c.) of Athens is widely considered the greatest orator of ancient Greece. Early on in his career, he recognized that the rise in power of Philip II of Macedonia was a threat to Greek independence, and he initiated a lifelong aggressive anti-Macedonian policy, which he pleaded publicly to the Athenians and the citizens of other Greek city-states. More than fifty Roman portraits of Demosthenes are known, an eloquent testimony to his continued popularity in Roman times. All the existing portraits appear to reflect a single Greek original, most likely the posthumous portrait statue by the sculptor Polyeuktos erected in the agora (marketplace) of Athens in 280 B.C. The fine head captures the orator in a characteristically harsh, unhappy yet determined expression—the countenance of a noble fanatic, great mind, and passionate patriot.

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