Icon of the Lamentation

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Lamentation over the body of the dead Christ is set between mountain peaks. The Virgin embraces Christ as he is being prepared for burial. Similar roughly carved icons have been associated with Venetian imitations of Byzantine art; more recently it has been suggested that they might be mementos of Crusader visits to sites in the Holy Land.

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