Ancient Greek, Roman, and Egyptian Galleries at the Rhode Island School of Design Museum of Art in Providence, Rhode Island

Ancient Greek, Roman, and Egyptian Galleries at the Rhode Island School of Design Museum of Art in Providence, Rhode Island.
Roman marble portraits and sarcophagi, wall paintings from the vicinity of Pompeii, floor mosaics from the Roman province of Syria, as well as Etruscan and Italic ceramics and bronzes are on view in the Weiss Ancient Art Gallery. A gallery of ancient Greek art is organized around the themes of early Greece, gods and goddesses, religion, funerary customs, everyday life, and the symposium. A third gallery, devoted to materials and technology, elucidates various creative processes and explains the effects of time on materials including marble, ceramics, metals, and glass. Objects in the Egyptian Gallery served functional or ritual purposes in everyday life, temple worship, or funerary practices.


Image: Image: Roman-Egyptian votive panel with a painting of the god Heron 300 CE. Heron is believed to have originated as a guardian god for travelers along the caravan routes of western Asia, becoming a popular protector god in Egypt during the first centuries CE. Here Heron dresses like a Roman soldier, wearing a breastplate, protective shin guards, and a fringed cape. He offers incense and pours a liquid offering next to a column supporting the griffin of Nemesis, the goddess of divine retribution. Heron’s frontal stance, halo, and large, staring eyes prefigure images of saints in early Byzantine art. Image courtesy of the Rhode Island School of Design Museum of Art.

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