Pax (Kußtafel or Monile)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This ornate pax was used during the celebration of Mass for the kiss of peace. The engraved letters IHS in the rock crystal are a monogram of the Greek name for Jesus. The Virgin and Child flanked by St. James the Greater and a female saint (perhaps Dorothy) are engraved on the back of the pax. On the inside of the back plate is an inscription indicating that Jacob Ostrofski presented the pax to the church of Blonie (near Warsaw) in 1529.

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