Ivory statuette of a reclining woman

Ivory statuette of a reclining woman

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Ivory carving has a long history in the ancient world. The material, although regarded as a rare luxury, was used for practical objects such as handles, pins, and boxes, as well as for works of art. In late Roman times, pagan or secular subjects gradually gave way to Christian images, and ivory became a prestige medium in Byzantine art.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Ivory statuette of a reclining womanIvory statuette of a reclining womanIvory statuette of a reclining womanIvory statuette of a reclining womanIvory statuette of a reclining woman

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.