Saint Margaret

Saint Margaret

Michael Pacher

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

According to legend, St. Margaret was imprisoned for refusing to marry the governor of Antioch. Satan appeared to her in the form of a dragon and swallowed her as she clutched a cross in prayer; she then ripped open his belly with the cross and emerged unscathed. The statue may have held a cross in one of her now-missing hands; the vanquished dragon lies at her feet. This massive figure probably came from the central shrine of a large polychromed altarpiece.

Medieval Art and The Cloisters

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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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.