Chasse with Christ in Majesty and the Lamb of God

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This chasse served as a container for saints’ relics—often bones or pieces of cloth. The chasse depicts Christ in Majesty surrounded by saints on the lower front and the Lamb of God, emblematic of Jesus, flanked by angels on the sloping roof. Access to the sacred contents was through the locked door on one end. It shows Saint Peter, called by Jesus to be the keeper of the keys of heaven, as the guardian of the box’s holy relics. Note the wonderfully varied designs of the columns and the saints’ haloes, the exceptional translucent red, the scrolling pattern of the gilded ground, and the blue enamel that defines hair, brows, digits, and sinews. The design of the back simulates a costly silk textile.

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