Textile Fragment with Unicorn, Deer, Centaur and Lion

Textile Fragment with Unicorn, Deer, Centaur and Lion

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Like the cloth from Perugia seen here, this textile features a combination of real and imaginary creatures. The inscription, only partially legible and apparently mixing Latin and Italian, invokes the name of Christ and the Church, indicating the cloth’s original use in a religious context.

Medieval Art and The Cloisters

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Textile Fragment with Unicorn, Deer, Centaur and LionTextile Fragment with Unicorn, Deer, Centaur and LionTextile Fragment with Unicorn, Deer, Centaur and LionTextile Fragment with Unicorn, Deer, Centaur and LionTextile Fragment with Unicorn, Deer, Centaur and Lion

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.