Gold Earring with Pearls and Sapphires

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

These elegant earrings are decorated with pearls, a favorite jewel of the Byzantines. Sapphires, then called hyakinthoi (hyacinths), became popular in Byzantine jewelry in the sixth century.

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