Scenes from the Life of the Virgin

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Mary, the mother of Jesus, was the focus of intense veneration in the late Middle Ages. Possibly created as an altar frontal, this hanging depicts scenes from her life: her Birth, the Annunciation, the Visitation with her cousin Elizabeth (mother of John the Baptist), the Nativity of Jesus, the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, and her Coronation by the Trinity. At the top, two angels hold the vera icon, an image of the imprint of Christ’s face believed to have been miraculously imprinted on the veil of Saint Veronica as Jesus was led to his Crucifixion.

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