Limestone votive relief with a “master of lions”

Limestone votive relief with a “master of lions”

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Above a flat band serving as a ground line, a long-haired nude figure in right profile is sculpted in low relief. Holding them against his body, he chokes two wild animals, each standing on one of its hind legs while the other leg pushes against the hero.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Limestone votive relief with a “master of lions”Limestone votive relief with a “master of lions”Limestone votive relief with a “master of lions”Limestone votive relief with a “master of lions”Limestone votive relief with a “master of lions”

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.