Storing up Manna

Friedrich Brunner

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Book of Exodus recounts that, after Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, God nourished his people with quail in the evening and manna, a white bread-like substance that miraculously fell from heaven. Here, men carry their shares to a tent. A second panel (2020.21.1) shows Moses, and his brother Aaron behind him, watch as the Israelites gather up the food and, in the panel at the right, The compositions of these panels, with their idiosyncratic figural style, animated faces, verve of line and form, and narrative charm, are attributed to Jan Pollack, the preeminent Munich panel painter of the time, while the execution of the glass with its accomplished painting and vibrant palette is given to Friedrich Brunner and his workshop. The church of the Savior was turned over to the Greek Orthodox community in 1829; these panels were removed from the church by 1906, eventually entering a private collection. The rest of the stained glass was mostly destroyed during World War II.

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