Terracotta stamnos (jar)

Berlin Painter

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Obverse, Athena between Hera and Zeus Reverse, warrior leaving home The feature common to both sides of this stamnos is the offering of a libation. On the obverse, Athena holds an oinochoe (jug) as Zeus and Hera proffer phialai (libation bowls) to be filled. On the reverse, a young warrior stands between a seated man and a standing woman who holds an oinochoe and a phiale. The libation is poured when the warrior departs in order to insure his safe return. This combination of scenes provides a remarkably graphic illustration of the ancient Athenians' sense that a communality in belief and practice existed between the mortal and divine worlds.

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