Medallion with Saint Paul from an Icon Frame

Medallion with Saint Paul from an Icon Frame

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

These nine medallions are from a group of twelve that once surrounded an icon of the archangel Gabriel. The medallions may have been sent as a gift from the Byzantine court to the neighboring Christian state of Georgia. The three medallions across the top form a Deesis, with Christ between the Virgin and Saint John the Forerunner (the Baptist). Below is the hierarchy of the Church: apostles (Saints Peter and Paul), evangelists (Saints Matthew and Luke), theologians (Saint John the Theologian), and, across the base, military saints (Saint George).

Medieval Art and The Cloisters

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Medallion with Saint Paul from an Icon FrameMedallion with Saint Paul from an Icon FrameMedallion with Saint Paul from an Icon FrameMedallion with Saint Paul from an Icon FrameMedallion with Saint Paul from an Icon Frame

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.