Base of an Altar Cross with Reading Angels Sitting on Dragons and Standing Church Fathers

Base of an Altar Cross with Reading Angels Sitting on Dragons and Standing Church Fathers

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The names of Saints Augustine, Jerome, and Gregory are inscribed on the books held by the angels. The absence of Saint Ambrose from the group (the heads are missing) indicates that the standard form of identifying the Church Fathers had not yet been established.


Medieval Art and The Cloisters

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Base of an Altar Cross with Reading Angels Sitting on Dragons and Standing Church FathersBase of an Altar Cross with Reading Angels Sitting on Dragons and Standing Church FathersBase of an Altar Cross with Reading Angels Sitting on Dragons and Standing Church FathersBase of an Altar Cross with Reading Angels Sitting on Dragons and Standing Church FathersBase of an Altar Cross with Reading Angels Sitting on Dragons and Standing Church Fathers

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.