Casket with Erotes and Animals

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

In scenes recalling antiquity, two panels on the lid of this casket show erotes (nude children), fighting (left) and playing music (right). The style of the animals represented on the four sides suggests that the carving was done by Italian artists drawing on Byzantine models.

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