Diptych with Scenes from Christ's Passion

Diptych with Scenes from Christ's Passion

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The booklike form of such narrative diptychs as this suggests that they are to be visually "read" for spiritual education. The choice of events or narrative details to illustrate can emphasize certain aspects of the Passion. This example is unique among those displayed here in depicting the suicide of Judas along with the Betrayal scene (bottom left panel). Similarly, the figure of Longinus in the Crucifixion scene (bottom right panel) emphasizes his recognition of Christ's divinity despite his role in Christ's suffering (compare to 17.190.208).

Medieval Art and The Cloisters

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Diptych with Scenes from Christ's PassionDiptych with Scenes from Christ's PassionDiptych with Scenes from Christ's PassionDiptych with Scenes from Christ's PassionDiptych 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.