Arma Christi

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The crosses on which Jesus and the two thieves were executed appear, improbably, against a rich backdrop of flowers. Around the crosses are objects linked to the suffering and death of Jesus—or Instruments of the Passion—including the scourges used to whip him, the crown of thorns placed mockingly on his head, the cloth with which Veronica wiped his face, and the nails that affixed him to the cross. Judging from its subject and dimensions, this hanging was used on a church altar. The coats of arms at lower left and right are those of the dukes of Segorbe; the textile was likely commissioned by Enrique II of Aragon (duke of Villena and Segorbe in 1472–died 1522) or his son Alfonso.

Medieval Art and The Cloisters

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Museum's collection of medieval and Byzantine art is among the most comprehensive in the world. Displayed in both The Met Fifth Avenue and in the Museum's branch in northern Manhattan, The Met Cloisters, the collection encompasses the art of the Mediterranean and Europe from the fall of Rome in the fourth century to the beginning of the Renaissance in the early sixteenth century. It also includes pre-medieval European works of art created during the Bronze Age and early Iron Age.

Metropolitan Museum of Art