Marble fragment of a votive relief with Athena

Marble fragment of a votive relief with Athena

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Athena, the patron goddess of Athens, wears an Attic helmet, a belted peplos, and over her chest the aegis, a protective goatskin given to her by her father Zeus. The remainder of this relief, which is preserved in Athens, shows that Athena was represented standing before an altar and a votive relief in her own sanctuary. The relief was probably dedicated to her to fulfill a vow made by the donor in return for Athena's assurance of success in some venture. Such exchanges of favors were essential to the relationship between the ancient Greeks and their gods.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Marble fragment of a votive relief with AthenaMarble fragment of a votive relief with AthenaMarble fragment of a votive relief with AthenaMarble fragment of a votive relief with AthenaMarble fragment of a votive relief with Athena

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.