Curtain of the Tabernacle, one of six illustrated leaves from the Postilla Litteralis (Literal Commentary) of Nicholas of Lyra

Curtain of the Tabernacle, one of six illustrated leaves from the Postilla Litteralis (Literal Commentary) of Nicholas of Lyra

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

One of the most influential university texts of the Middle Ages, the Postilla litteralis provided an extended commentary on the entire Christian Bible. Its author, Nicholas of Lyra, who taught at the University of Paris, was particularly interested in architecture and included numerous diagrams of biblical structures to clarify his explanations. This leaf accompanies a discussion of the Tabernacle from the book of Exodus. It shows the ten panels of the curtain ordered by God to be made “of violet and purple, and scarlet twice-dyed, and fine, twisted linen.”

Medieval Art and The Cloisters

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Curtain of the Tabernacle, one of six illustrated leaves from the Postilla Litteralis (Literal Commentary) of Nicholas of LyraCurtain of the Tabernacle, one of six illustrated leaves from the Postilla Litteralis (Literal Commentary) of Nicholas of LyraCurtain of the Tabernacle, one of six illustrated leaves from the Postilla Litteralis (Literal Commentary) of Nicholas of LyraCurtain of the Tabernacle, one of six illustrated leaves from the Postilla Litteralis (Literal Commentary) of Nicholas of LyraCurtain of the Tabernacle, one of six illustrated leaves from the Postilla Litteralis (Literal Commentary) of Nicholas of Lyra

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.