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Pair of eyes

5th century BCE or later
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 156
Bronze, marble, frit, quartz, and obsidian

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.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Pair of eyes
  • Period: Classical
  • Date: 5th century BCE or later
  • Culture: Greek
  • Medium: Bronze, marble, frit, quartz, obsidian
  • Dimensions: maximum H. 1 1/2 in. (3.8 cm)
    maximum length 2in. (5.1cm)
  • Classification: Bronzes
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Mr. and Mrs. Lewis B. Cullman Gift and Norbert Schimmel Bequest, 1991
  • Object Number: 1991.11.3a, b
  • Curatorial Department: Greek and Roman Art

Audio

Cover Image for 1041. Pair of eyes

1041. Pair of eyes

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These eyes, fascinating objects on their own, would have been inset in the eye sockets of a monumental sculpture. The eyes show the emotions and thoughts of the mind behind them; of all the parts of the body, they show most vividly where life is present, and most glaringly where it is lacking. A statue with these eyes in their original state would have seemed to live, almost to see.

Some gods have epithets that refer to their eyes. Athena is called glaukopis, which means, with shining grey eyes; Hera is called Boöpis, which means with the brown eyes of a cow.

The variety of materials here reflects the complexity, even the anatomy of the human eye. The bronze eyelashes are cut individually and attached to the outer casing. The whites of the eyes are made of ivory; the irises are inlays of colored quartz. In the center of each eye, a spot of obsidian, a black volcanic glass, approximates the sparkle of the pupil.

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Pair of eyes - Greek - Classical - The Metropolitan Museum of Art