Glass mosaic fragment

Glass mosaic fragment

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Thick base fragment, probably from a deep, footed ribbed bowl. Translucent deep purple, cobalt blue, and opaque white. Two layers fused together, forming a convex disk. Exterior layer: ribbon mosaic pattern formed from sections of a single cane in purple ground with white and blue threads in parallel lines; interior layer: spiraling mosaic pattern formed from sections of a single cane in blue ground with white threads. Polished convex exterior; pitting of surface bubbles and weathering in cracks; dulling, creamy weathering, and faint iridescence on exterior and jagged edges. Probably part of a deep ribbed bowl with base ring, but cut down, possibly in antiquity, into a disk.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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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.