Limestone male head

Limestone male head

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This carefully executed head is of greatest interest for the headgear. The familiar helmetlike cap has on it the body of a bird. The animal's head is just above the man's forehead, the wings extend to either side, and the tail ends just before the projection at the top of the cap. In ancient Greece and Cyprus, the integration of whole animals or expressive parts into dress or armor was a frequent occurrence. Herakles with the lionskin is perhaps the foremost example. The priest, 74.51.2466, has a bull's head at the top of the cap. One wonders whether the individual depicted here was mortal or whether, conceivably, he might represent a special variant of Hermes, the messenger god whose travels were expedited by his winged shoes and cap.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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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.