Angel

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Seemingly afloat in midair, with its windblown drapery, this angel once graced the voussoir, or wedge-shaped stone, set in an arch of the portal on the north transept of the cathedral dedicated to Saint Lazarus in Autun. The angel’s attention originally was focused on the scene of Jesus raising Lazarus—patron saint of the cathedral—from the dead, depicted in the tympanum centered over the doorway. The angel is one of a handful of physical remains of the twelfth-century portal, which was replaced with a Baroque doorway in 1776. The main entrance of the cathedral is carved with the name Gislebertus, believed to be the principal author of the sculptural program.

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