Saint Roch and the Angel

Master of the Biberach Holy Kinship

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This sensitively carved group represents Saint Roch lifting his robe, while a small angel, his wings now missing, applies ointment to the boil on the saint’s leg. The drawn and weary face of the saint elicits empathetic anguish from the angel. The sculptor paid considerable attention to the anatomy of forms, notably in the rendering of the underlying bone structure of the face and hands and the careful articulation of the veins. Both figures are slightly rotated, which is emphasized by the long diagonal fold across the torso of Saint Roch that animates the group with implied motion.

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