Italy Loans Greek and Roman Antiquities to The Metropolitan Museum of Art
By STAN PARCHIN
February 19, 2010
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| Attributed to the Boread Painter (Greek, Laconian). Kylix (Drinking Cup) (ca. 575-560 B.C.). Terracotta. Cerveteri, Banditaccia cemetery, tomb 1. Interior: Boreads pursuing harpies, with a sphinx below. Republic of Italy. |
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| Roman, Late Republic or Augustan (2nd half of 1st Century B.C.). Moregine Silver Treasury. Silver. Moregine, near Pompeii. Republic of Italy. |
As part of an ongoing exchange with the Republic of Italy, New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art is exhibiting a Greek kylix (drinking cup) and a rare and recently excavated Roman dining set from Pompeii in its Greek and Roman Art Galleries.
Director Thomas P. Campbell said, "The presentation of these splendid works in New York, where they will be viewed by millions of visitors over the next four years, will deepen the public's knowledge and appreciation of ancient art, and will contribute immeasurably to their understanding of its significance."
The 2006 agreement between the museum and the Italian government called for the transfer of title and return of several antiquities, included the famous Euphronios Krater (ca. 515 B.C.). Sixteen pieces of Hellenistic silver (3rd Century B.C.) from Morgantina, Sicily were returned to Italy last month. These artifacts will be exhibited in each country on a rotating basis every four years. The Met received four loans from Italy in 2006 and 2008.
Kylix
The Laconian terracotta kylix (ca. 575-560 B.C.) from Sparta was exported to Italy in ancient times. Its mythological design shows two Boreads or wind gods rushing to castigate predatory harpies (winged female monsters). The work is on display on the east side of the first-floor Robert and Renée Belfer Court.
Moregine Silver Treasure
Known as the Moregine Silver Treasure, the 20 objects from the outskirts of Pompeii, one of three such sets in the world, include vessels for holding, serving and receiving food as well as receptacles for mixing, pouring and drinking liquids. Buried in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D., they were excavated from the basement of an unfinished public bath house in 2000. Two prized cathari or drinking cups from late Hellenistic times were probably made in Alexandria, Egypt. They commemorate the historic Treaty of Brundisium (40 B.C.) between Mark Anthony and Octavian four years after the assassination of Julius Caesar. The arrangement gave Mark Anthony command of the eastern Roman provinces while Octavian ruled Italy and the West. The artifacts are installed in the museum's Hellenistic Treasury along with other antique luxury goods from the age of Alexander the Great to that of early imperial Rome.