The Metropolitan Museum houses a fine collection of valuable objects which bring us back to the historic moments of the past. One could hardly investigate all the departments in a single day. Basically, it is probably impossible. For this reason, I decided to focus only on the department of Greek and Roman art. The collection consists of more than 17,000 works starting with the Neolithic period to the times of conversion to Christianity in the Roman Empire. The territory that is represented in the exhibition covers Greece and Italy. Specifically, the objects are taken from the territories which once belonged to either Greek colonies, or Roman Empire. I also found the exhibits dated from the pre-Greece and the pre-Roman periods. One of them is Carved amber bow of a fibula which represents the art of ancient Italy, Etruscans. While the majority of the works are made of marble, limestone, bronze, gold, silver, and glass, the fibula became the most complex work on the amber showing a man and a woman resting on the coach.
The works that are exhibited in the department convey the life of our ancestors. While looking at Bronze statuette of a veiled and masked dancer, we are able to guess about the entertainments during 3rd – 2nd century B.C. The bronze woman is hiding her face graciously in the dance. She represents a professional mime and dancer in the city of Alexandria. Not only did I learn about the daily life of Romans and Greeks but I also found that they tried to save the mythological aspect of their lives in different forms of art. I encountered various works representing the mythological creatures, gods, and the actual scenes from the myths. For example, Marble capital and finial in the form of a sphinx is only one example of sphinx’s forms. People usually placed a winged female near the graves and believed that she would guard the dead. I also found her on the painting of Gustave Moreau, Oedipus and the Sphinx. Moreau depicts the confrontation between Oedipus and the Sphinx when Oedipus tries to save the life of Thebans and his own by solving the riddles. Unfortunately, the parts of some sculptures were lost or damaged. Consequently, it was decided to combine some of them in order to create a better understanding as in the Statue of Dionysos leaning on a female figure ("Hope Dionysos") which shows the god of wine and a common woman. Ten marble fragments of the Great Eleusinian Relief from the Augustan period shows the site of the Eleusinian mysteries which took place every year before the cultivation. In Roman culture, people also tried to explain the nature of the events with the help of myths. Probably, Marble sarcophagus with the myth of Selene and Endymion is the most influential example of those attempts. While looking at the details, we could find that sarcophagus was presented to Arria by her daughter who wanted to create an allusion to the constant sleep. The story about Endymion and Serena served as a commemoration of human life.While wandering around the department of Greek and Roman art, I was thrilled with the beauty of forms and magnificence of every detail. It made me think that people in the past might have valued their culture and traditions much more than we nowadays.
Works Cited
“Bronze statuette of a veiled and masked dancer.” Department of Greek and Roman art. The Metropolitan Museum. Bronze.
“Carved amber bow of a fibula (safety pin).” Department of Greek and Roman art. The Metropolitan Museum. Amber.
“Marble capital and finial in the form of a sphinx.” Department of Greek and Roman art. The Metropolitan Museum. Marble.
“Marble sarcophagus with the myth of Selene and Endymion.” Department of Greek and Roman art. The Metropolitan Museum. Marble.
Moreau, Gustave. “Oedipus and the Sphinx.” Department of Greek and Roman art. The Metropolitan Museum. Oil and canvas.
“Statue of Dionysos leaning on a female figure ("Hope Dionysos").” Department of Greek and Roman art. The Metropolitan Museum. Marble.
“Ten marble fragments of the Great Eleusinian Relief.” Department of Greek and Roman art. The Metropolitan Museum. Marble.
