Panels of Grisaille Glass with Grotesques

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Traditionally thought to have come from the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris, this grisaille panel (one of a pair, see acc. no. 1982.433.4) is now attributed to the Chapel of Saint-Louis at the royal abbey of Saint-Denis. Its distinctive features, the inclusion of the small fleurs-de-lis, which sprout, budlike, from the stems of the foliage, is unique to this panel and to four other related examples—a detail that may well indicate that the glass was created for a royal foundation. The most likely candidate is Saint-Denis, the royal necropolis, where a nave chapel dedicated to Louis IX—who was canonized as Saint Louis in 1297—was completed by 1324. The rebuilding of the abbey church began shortly after Louis ascended to the throne and continued throughout most of his reign (1226–70).

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