Terracotta neck-amphora (jar)

Niobid Painter

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Obverse, Dionysos and maenads at altar; Reverse, libation scene: king and women The Niobid Painter takes advantage of the large shape to depict solemn, imposing offering scenes. On the obverse, Dionysos, god of wine, stands at an altar with a kantharos (drinking cup with high handles) as the maenad opposite him holds an oinochoe (jug); interestingly, the vase is glazed black to be more visible. On the reverse, a man whose status is indicated by his scepter and fillet holds a phiale (libation bowl) that is being filled by a woman pouring from an oinochoe (jug).

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