Terracotta plaque of a boar

Terracotta plaque of a boar

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The style and decoration of this small plaque resemble three-dimensional versions of Corinthian animal-shaped vases. The articulation of the animal’s fur with glaze dots and lines is a feature often found on Corinthian examples. Corinth produced such plastic vases in great numbers in the forms of animals, mythical creatures, and human figures.


Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Terracotta plaque of a boarTerracotta plaque of a boarTerracotta plaque of a boarTerracotta plaque of a boarTerracotta plaque of a boar

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.