Comb with Putti and Sea Creatures

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Lavishly decorated double-sided combs are often preserved in the treasuries of churches. Such combs conform to types used for personal adornment among the laity and may have passed through several hands before entering the collections of churches to serve ritual purposes. On the current comb, the vigorous design of two youths a hippocamp and a griffin derives from Eastern and Classical motifs, though the wide popularity across the Mediterranean of such imagery makes localization of this comb difficult.

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