Polyptych with Scenes from Christ's Passion

Polyptych with Scenes from Christ's Passion

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Some private devotional objects were intended to encourage meditation on the events of the Passion in great detail, cultivating a feeling of personal presence. Narrative carvings may have aided in such intense visualization. This particular choice of scenes is striking in its attention to Pontius Pilate, its depiction of both the raising of the cross and Jesus nailed to the cross, and its inclusion of the rare episode of the stripping and buffeting of Christ.

Medieval Art and The Cloisters

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Polyptych with Scenes from Christ's PassionPolyptych with Scenes from Christ's PassionPolyptych with Scenes from Christ's PassionPolyptych with Scenes from Christ's PassionPolyptych with Scenes from Christ's Passion

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.