Double-Lancet Window

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This limestone window from La Tricherie, a small village near Châtellerault (between Tours and Poitiers), is constructed in a style typical of the late thirteenth century. The overall opening is organized into two identical lancets topped by a circle (oculus), which circumscribes a quatrefoil—a basic scheme that first appeared in window designs in the late twelfth century. In this version new elements have been introduced, such as trefoils composed of pointed, rather than rounded, leaf forms. The desire to create a diaphanous effect is evident in the piercing of the remaining surfaces between traceries, which leaves no solid fields in the skeletal structure. Small capitals decorate the vertical members (mullions) of the inscribed lancets. On the interior face the capitals are carved with broad, flattened leaves; on the exterior face the outer two are transformed into whimsical male and female heads.

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