Medallion with the Face of Christ

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Carved from amber, a honey-colored fossilized pine resin, this luminous image seems to echo medieval prayers that praise the Face of Jesus, shining with “the semblance of divine splendor.” Europe’s amber trade was controlled by the Teutonic Knights, whose castles dominated the Baltic coast. Amber carvers made rosary beads and, occasionally, for princely patrons, statuettes of saints or holy images like this one, framed in silver or ivory. Only two other examples survive, both with silver frames.

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