Nearly 500 outstanding objects from the collection of the Department of Greek and Roman Art in the Metropolitan Museum are assembled in this generously illustrated publication, published to coincide with the opening of the Museum’s new galleries of Hellenistic, Etruscan, and Roman art, and comprehensive Study Center. The volume includes a detailed history of the collection by Carlos A. Picón and seven chapters that reflect the scope of the collection: the Neolithic and the Aegean Bronze Age, Geometric and Archaic Greece, Classical Greece, the Hellenistic Age, Cyprus, Etruria, and the Roman Empire. Notable are such treasures as a Cycladic figure of about 4500–4000 B.C., a fascinating and meticulously restored bronze and ivory Etruscan chariot from the sixth century B.C., and a number of well-preserved Roman wall paintings. An entry section includes an informative text about each object, along with a map for each chapter and a selection of drawings and details.

Art of the Classical World in The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Greece, Cyprus, Etruria, Rome

Arts & Photography

Hemingway, Seán

Lightfoot, Christopher S.

Mertens, Joan R.

Picón, Carlos A.

Milleker, Elizabeth J.

History & Criticism

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Among glass craftsmen active in the first century A.D., the most famous and gifted was Ennion, who came from the coastal city of Sidon in modern Lebanon. Ennion’s glass stood out for its quality and popularity, and his products are distinguished by the fine detail and precision of their relief decoration, which imitates designs found on contemporary silverware. This publication examines the most innovative and elegant known examples of Roman mold-blown glass, providing a uniquely comprehensive, up-to-date study of these exceptional works. Included are some twenty-six remarkably preserved examples of drinking cups, bowls, and jugs signed by Ennion himself, as well as fifteen additional vessels that were clearly influenced by him. The informative texts and illustrations effectively convey the lasting aesthetic appeal of Ennion’s vessels, and offer an accessible introduction to an ancient art form that reached its apogee in the early decades of the Roman Empire.

Ennion: Master of Roman Glass

The Cesnola Collection of antiquities from Cyprus preserves the island’s artistic traditions from prehistoric through Roman times and represents the first large group of ancient Mediterranean works to enter the museum’s collection. This catalogue, which focuses on Cypriot glass, contains over 500 works dating from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Byzantine period (ca. 1500 B.C.–ca. A.D. 625) from one of the most comprehensive collections of Cypriot art in the world. Illustrations of each object are accompanied by a detailed catalogue entry, including references to comparative works. In addition, informed essays make the catalogue a perfect introduction to Cypriot glass and provide a survey of the importance of the collection.

The Cesnola Collection of Cypriot Art: Ancient Glass

This publication, the fourth in a series that meticulously catalogues works in The Metropolitan Museum of Art's renowned Cesnola Collection of Cypriot Art, focuses on the collection's 453 terracotta oil lamps dating from the Classical, Hellenistic, Roman, and Early Byzantine periods. The rich iconography on many of these common, everyday objects provides a rare look into daily life on Cyprus in antiquity and highlights the island's participation in Roman artistic and cultural production. Each lamp is illustrated, and the accompanying text addresses typology, decoration, and makers' marks on each of these objects. Although these small, utilitarian oil lamps are often overlooked in scholarly studies of the classical world, this close examination reveals their social, cultural, and artistic contexts, which provide new insights into art, craft, and trade in the ancient Mediterranean.

The Cesnola Collection of Cypriot Art: Terracotta Oil Lamps

•Only full publication available dedicated to one of the best collections of Roman art in the world •Highlights one of the most popular collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, which receives nearly 7.5 million visitors per year •Many items on permanent display in the Met's celebrated Greek and Roman halls The collection of Roman art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of the finest in the world. It contains more than 5,000 objects, including exquisite cameos, refined silver vessels and utensils, spectacular Pompeiian frescoes, monumental sculptures in stone and bronze and elaborate sarcophagi. This handsome guide features a selection of over 200 of the most important works that exemplify this rich and diverse collection, each presented in detail and illustrated with stunning color photography. Every work is accompanied by an engaging text written by prominent scholars that establishes the object's significance in antiquity, and thus provides new insights for a contemporary understanding of ancient Roman art.

Roman Art: A Guide through The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Collection

Zanker, Paul

Scala