Terracotta askos (flask with a spout) in the form of a bull

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Askoi were used to store and dispense oil and thus were employed in variety of domestic and sacro-religious contexts. A clue to the use of this specific vessel, however, may lie in the wreath encircling the head of the bull below its horns. Since animals to be sacrificed during religious rites were often crowned in this way, perhaps this particular askos was intended for use in such a ritual.

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