Virgin and Child with Cradle

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Here, a rare subject seems to reflect and reinforce fourteenth-century devotional practices encouraging the imitation of Mary, especially among women. Nuns in convents were often given dolls and cradles (one may be seen in the Medieval Sculpture Gallery) designed to help cultivate devotion through enacting a mother's care of the Christ Child and to prompt visionary experiences of personal encounters with him.

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