Cover of a Censer

Godefridus

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The artist who produced this censer proudly inscribed his name, "Godefridus," over one of the arches. The censer bears witness to the technical, artistic, and symbolic sophistication lavished on objects, regardless of size, produced for the service of the medieval church. The architectural form may symbolize the heavenly city of Jerusalem, while the lunettes circling the base depict Old Testament events thought to foretell Christ's sacrifice. Such complicated imagery was standard in art produced in the Valley of the Meuse, an area now part of modern Belgium, in the 12th century.

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