Cabinet frontal with panels from two Embriachi caskets

Baldassare degli Embriachi

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The scenes displayed are taken from Medieval romances and Classical mythology. Initially they were mounted upon two large chests used by the powerful ruling Lombard family, the Visconti, on their visits to the Certosa of Pavia. The stories represented include: the Golden Eagle (Il Pecorone) by Giovanni Forentino (1378); the tale of Mattabruna (an old French Romance); Jason and the Golden Fleece; the story of Pyramus and Thisbe; and the story of Hero and Leander. These chests were among the most ambitious works created by the bone and ivory carvers workshop, headed by the Florentine entrepreneur, Baldassare degli Embriachi.

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