Marble Fragment of a Relief with a Flying Eros in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Sept. 2007

Marble fragment of a relief with a flying Eros
Roman, Early Imperial, 1st century AD

Accession # 21.88.13

A charming winged Eros carrying a parasol flies in the foreground on this small fragment from a decorative plaque. The space and the architectural setting behind him are suggested by varying adjustments of scale and depth of relief. Such delicate and evocative scenes were popular subjects on ceilings decorated with stucco as well as on marble reliefs such as this one, which were set in the walls of Roman villas.

Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.