Marble statue of a panther

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Monumental ancient Greek marble sculpture is rare, and this is the first example in the form of a panther to enter The Met collection. The feline is powerfully modeled and carefully finished. Although it is missing its tail, most of its legs, and part of its face, the animal is immediately readable and has great presence. Panthers were favored by the god Dionysos, one of the most popular deities among the Hellenistic kings.

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