Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Flask with Dancers
Not on view
During both the Byzantine and the Islamic periods, female images signified abundance, fertility, intellectual pursuits, deities, and cities. Women also appear as court entertainers such as dancers, musicians, and courtesans.
Dancers with crotales (handled castanets) appear under the arcades. Each figure twirls her legs and gracefully raises an arm in a pose reminiscent of Dionysian revels. Such figures were popular from the Byzantine into the Islamic era.
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