#MetMuseum is an active hashtag on Bluesky. In the last 30 days, 7 people shared 93 posts with it — around 3 a day. Activity is down 10% versus the previous week, peaking on Aug 31 with 6 posts.

Posts with #MetMuseum

Chapps

@chapps.bsky.social

about 11 hours ago

This morning it was announced that several pieces of 7th c. BCE Greek (Cretan) armor and other antiquities in the #MetMuseum were repatriated to Greece. Looted in the 1960s from Crete, this includes two helmets, and three mitrai (belly guards). A look at three items ... 🧵 🏺 1/ 📸 me

Bronze helmet with two winged youths on each side who flank and grasp a pair of entwined serpents. They are dressed in short kilts, wear winged sandals and have wings on their backs that appear to be attached with straps. Although some scholars have identified these figures as the legendary Cretan craftsman Daidalos and his son Icarus, they probably represent local daemonic beings. Below them are two panthers with a common head.

Inscription above the visor: 'Neopolis'.

Greek, Cretan, late 7th century BCE. From Afrati (or Aphrati, ancient Arkades), Crete.

Met Museum, New York (1989.281.50)

One of two bronze Archaic Cretan helmets at the Met Museum, the finest pieces of a large cache of armor that came to light in southern central Crete, where they were undoubtedly made. It has a beautiful patina of bright greens and rich, deep orange-reds. The inscriptions suggest that the armor was captured as booty and offered as a dedication. This helmet depicts two long-legged horses worked in repoussé with incised details (one on each side). Small engraved lions appear on the cheekpieces. An inscription on the helmet states that “Synenitos the son of Euklotas [took this].”

Greek, Cretan, late 7th century BCE (Archaic). Said to be from Afrati, Crete.

Height: 9 5/8 in. (24.5 cm)

Met Museum, New York (1989.281.49)

Bronze mitra (belly guard), shaped like a slightly long half-circle. Mitra were suspended from belts to protect the lower abdomen. This is one of three, and is decorated with two sphinxes facing one another, their heads turned towards the viewer. They were tall polos-style hats.

Met Museum, New York (1989.281.53). Deaccessioned for return to the Hellenic Republic in September 2026.

9 83 378

Chapps

@chapps.bsky.social

7 months ago

This weird and wonderful Greek amphoriskos (flask) depicts a bird-man, but the explanation is astonishing. It almost certainly relates to Aristophanes' famous comedy 'The Birds' (first produced 415/414 BCE) and may represent a costume worn by members of the chorus. 🏺 #ancientbluesky #MetMuseum 📸 me

This extraordinary vase of a bird-man, of high technical quality, is unique among the examples of Attic black-glazed pottery known today. It almost certainly relates to Aristophanes' well-known comedy The Birds (first produced in 415/414 B.C.) and may represent the costume that would have been worn by members of the chorus in the fifth century B.C.

The body of the bird-man is upright, with human legs tucked under, and human arms wrapped around the bird body's overstuffed stomach. The head is a bird, except for somewhat human ears. The flared spout almost looks like a hat on top of the head of the bird-man, with a handle on either side, attached to the spout and to the feathered shoulders of the bird body. A little tiered circular stand is at the bottom.

26 210 1415

Chapps

@chapps.bsky.social

3 months ago

This little guy looks like someone surprised him while he was frolicking naked at the office. This solid gold (and, er, quite male) figure from the Tolima culture of Colombia wears a large feathered headdress, ear plugs, stacks of bracelets, and a nose ring. 🏺 1/ 5th-10th c. CE. #MetMuseum 📸 me

Tolima gold figure pendant in the form of a male with a nose ring, erect phallus, stacks of bracelets, and a feathered (?) headdress. The nose ring is quite large and gives the impression of an open screaming mouth, and the eyes are two round beads; those, together with the headdress (which resembles comic hair flaring out in shock) gives the impression of this guy being very comically scared. His elbows are at his sides, but the hands are raised almost to the shoulders, probably in a worshipful pose. He wears only a thick belt above his erect phallus.

Gold work from the Tolima region of Columbia is characterized by strong geometric forms combining stylized parts of humans and animals.

Tolima culture, ca 5th-10th century CE, Colombia.

H. 4 × W. 2 7/16 × D. 5/8 in. (10.2 × 6.2 × 1.6 cm)

Met Museum, New York (1991.419.28)

41 181 1228

Chapps

@chapps.bsky.social

8 months ago

One of the best examples of ancient #polychromy that I know of is this terracotta thymiaterion - incense burner - in the form of a group of colorfully dressed women sitting around a wellhead. The iconography reflects a local cult, perhaps of Demeter and Kore. 🏺 1/ 4th c. CE. #MetMuseum 📸 me

This thymiaterion has five individually hand-made women sitting on the edge of a red-painted wellhead, with one sitting in her own high-baked chair. All are brightly painted, and each woman has a 'hat' with a cup on top for the burning of the incense. All painted slightly differently - three with orange-yellow tunics, two with red tunics; two red himatia (cloaks), two purple-black himatia, and one yellow himation. They each once carried an attribute in each hand, but several are missing. In this photo, one woman carries a yellow (meant to be gold) phiale, an offering plate, and a pomegranate; the other woman facing us carries a spindle with wool.

Met Museum (2012.546)

19 127 819

Chapps

@chapps.bsky.social

7 months ago

"I built a strong wall that cannot be shaken, with bitumen and baked bricks... I laid its foundation on the breast of the netherworld, and I built its top as high as a mountain." - Nebuchadnezzar II So says this Babylonian clay cylinder (604-562 BCE), inscribed with cuneiform. 🏺 1/ #MetMuseum 📸 me

Cylindrical clay cylinder, tapered and flat on each end, covered with cuneiform writing. It's a 'toasty' color, yellows and browns, and a bit chipped here and there.

30 117 745

Chapps

@chapps.bsky.social

7 months ago

Just in time for #caturday, I noticed something very interesting on this ancient Greek pelike (jar) featuring Poseidon and Amymone. A very rare representation of a cat. It doesn't seem to be very impressed by the presence of the gods. Perhaps this is a scene from a play ... 🏺 1/ #MetMuseum 📸 me

On this red-figure pelike - a squat jar with two handles under a broad rolled lip - we see Amymone standing on the left, her hand on winged Eros' head. Poseidon - who has rescued her from a satyr - sits on an unseen chair or rock, seemingly inspecting the tines on his golden yellow trident. A cat sits under the god of the sea, looking out at us, the viewers.

Greek, South Italian, Apulian, ca. 360-340 BCE. Attributed to the Dechter Painter.

Met Museum, New York (1984.323.3)

Closeup of the cat, not drawn particularly well, but the attitude is all there, as if to say, 'Can you believe all this drama?'

16 104 737

Chapps

@chapps.bsky.social

6 months ago

Guess who's having cataract surgery tomorrow morning? ME! I get a pretty new lens, but I'm currently freaking out about needles and eyes. 💉👁️ 😱 So here's a sweet pair of bronze, frit, and stone eyes made for a statue, now lost. 🏺 Greek, 5th c. BCE. #MetMuseum 📸 me

Greek and Roman statues were designed to give a colorful lifelike impression. Marble and wood sculptures were brightly painted, and bronze statues were originally a pale fleshlike brown. Lips and nipples were often inlaid with copper, and teeth with silver. Eyes were usually made separately and set into prepared sockets. This pair, designed for an over-lifesize statue, gives a sense of the potent immediacy that ancient sculpture could convey.

Greek, 5th century BCE or later. Bronze, marble, frit, quartz, and obsidian.

Dimensions: maximum H. 1 1/2 in. (3.8 cm); maximum length 2in. (5.1cm)

Met Museum, New York (1991.11.3a,b)

96 64 729

Chapps

@chapps.bsky.social

10 months ago

This Hellenistic bronze statuette depicts a thickly-muscled craftsman, identified by his short tunic and by the wax tablets tucked into his belt. He may represent a famous or mythological figure - Daidalos, who built the labyrinth at Knossos, or the sculptor-architect Phidias. 🏺 1/ #MetMuseum 📸 me

This statuette is remarkable for its synthesis of Hellenistic immediacy and Classical composure. The figure can be identified as an artisan by his dress (a short tunic, ending just above his knee) and muscular build. Particularly telling is the pair of wax tablets tucked in his belt—the equivalent of a note pad—on which he would have written or drawn with a pointed stylus. His left arm is laid across his torso, his hand gripping his right side, and his bald head is pulled down towards his right shoulder. He's missing his right arm and leg. The bronze has a deep brown patina, with rich light highlights.

The portrait is imbued with great psychological power and may represent a famous, even mythological, figure. For example, he may portray the Homeric hero Epeios, who with Athena's help carved the Trojan horse. It has also been proposed that he is the legendary master craftsman Daidalos, who built the labyrinth at Knossos, or even the famous 5th century BCE Athenian sculptor Phidias, creator of the chryselephantine cult statue of Zeus at Olympia and master craftsman of the sculptures of the Parthenon on the Athenian Akropolis.

Greek, Late Hellenistic, ca. mid-1st century BCE. Bronze with silver eyes. Said to have been found in the sea off the North African coast, probably at Cherchell, Algeria.

Met Museum, New York (1972.11.1)

24 88 653

Chapps

@chapps.bsky.social

7 months ago

Every dog owner: ‘What’s that in your mouth?? Omigod, drop it, drop it!’ 😱 This Greek (Boeotian) terracotta dog appears to have a red piece of, um, meat in its mouth. I’m sure he earned it (‘Hey, that dead guy over there wasn’t using this.’) 1st half of the 5th c. BCE. #MetMuseum 📸 me 🏺

Terracotta statuette of a dog with upright, pricked ears and a fluffy upright tail. He has an oval object - supposedly meat - in his mouth, painted red. Black pigment can still be seen on his ears and the tip of his tail, in addition to some traces of red on his coat.

14 94 577

Chapps

@chapps.bsky.social

4 months ago

This #Greek terracotta drinking cup sort of nails the theme. In the shape of a cow’s hoof, it depicts a seated herdsman with two cows on the cuff. Top-notch detailing, including the attire of the youth, who‘s wearing a cap and cloak, suggesting cold weather. 🏺 1/ 5th c. BCE, #MetMuseum. 📸 me

This red-figure terracotta cup in the shape of a cow's hoof depicts a seated herdsman holding a stick/goad with two cows, a dog, and a hare on the cuff. Because landscape is rarely depicted on Attic vases, the amount of detail here is exceptional. Moreover, the herdsman's attire—shoes and a cap and cloak of fur or hide—suggests cold weather.

Greek, Attic, red-figure, ca. 470-460 BCE, attributed to a painter recalling the Brygos Painter. Said to have been found in Salamis.

H. 4 1/16 in. (10.3 cm)

Met Museum, New York (38.11.2)

15 94 553

Chapps

@chapps.bsky.social

6 months ago

The goddess Athena herself would have coveted this stirrup-spout bottle in the shape of an owl. Created thousands of miles across the ocean from Greece, this bottle is typical of the work of Moche ceramicists of Peru’s North Coast. #MetMuseum 🏺 1/ 200-500 CE. 📸 me

A Moche stirrup-spout bottle with the form of a Tyto alba, the western barn owl. Orangish in color, with faded white stripes on the deep feathered tufting around its eyes, the owl looks down and slightly to its right. Incredibly realistic.

8 93 537

Chapps

@chapps.bsky.social

6 months ago

There is such a sculptural quality to this ancient Bactrian silver tetradrachm. King Eukratides I is shown in profile, wearing a Boeotian-style helmet and holding a spear, his torso twisted so that we see his powerfully muscled back and shoulders. 🏺 1/ Bactria, ca. 170-145 BCE. #MetMuseum 📸 me