Fragmentary terracotta female head

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This terracotta head showcases the mastery of Tarentine coroplastic art. Since fine, hard stone such as marble was not readily available, Tarentine artists used terracotta for large-scale figures of high quality. The work to which this head originally belonged may have been associated with a goddess or a female attendant. Among the thousands of clay vases and figures found at Tarentum, subjects pertaining to the life of women, and specifically marriage, are prevalent.

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