Engraved Bowl

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This shallow bowl, engraved with the personification of Pride in the central medallion, was used for hand washing. The central figure is surrounded by other vices, such as Jealousy, identified by Latin inscriptions, indicating the moralizing nature of the decoration. Such bowls were often produced in pairs, and this one would likely have been paired with a bowl depicting personifications of virtue. It belongs to a large group of surviving bowls, known as Hansa bowls, made in northern and western Germany, Scandinavia, and England during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.

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