Terracotta olpe

Attributed to Master of Vatican, 73

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Friezes of real and fantastic animals, including lions, panthers, goats, deer, bulls, boars, swans, are characteristic of Corinthian art. The style was strongly influenced by the art of the ancient Near East, where repetitive bands of animal decoration were common. At the same time, Corinthian vessels like this olpe were widely distributed throughout the Mediterranean, and the distinctive design was closely copied in a number of local pottery workshops, particularly in Etruria and South Italy.

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