Terracotta amphora with lid

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

On the shoulder panel, obverse, two mermen. On the reverse, two confronted dogs. Around the lower body, six metopes with birds. This colorful and unusual vase presents an enterprising Etruscan artist's interpretation of an originally Greek shape and type of decoration. The amphora, with its lid, two-part handles, echinus foot, and rays at the base of the body as well as the black-figure technique, depends on Athenian prototypes of the mid-sixth century B.C. The placement of the panels, their subject matter, and the contrast between black and red in the use of color reflect an independent Etruscan spirit. The metopes filled with birds recall the Attic cup by the Amasis Painter showing the stables of Poseidon (exhibited in Gallery 154). The function of the amphora would probably have been for storage. The closest parallel is another amphora in the university museum in Bonn, Germany.

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