Belt with Profiles of Half-Length Figures

Belt with Profiles of Half-Length Figures

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Extravagant girdles used to cinch the fall of clothing at the waist were often part of betrothal gifts, dowries, and counter-dowries (given by the groom). One of the stories of Boccaccio's Decameron (1349–52) included girdles, along with rings, as gifts for a new bride. Intact girdles such as this one are rare. It would have been worn under the breasts, pulled through the buckle—here in the form of a curving figure—and then hanging to the ground, its gilt details and enameling catching the light. The enamel technique known as basse taille allows the silver below to shine through the translucent enamels.

Medieval Art and The Cloisters

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Belt with Profiles of Half-Length FiguresBelt with Profiles of Half-Length FiguresBelt with Profiles of Half-Length FiguresBelt with Profiles of Half-Length FiguresBelt with Profiles of Half-Length Figures

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.