Bowl with Three Animals

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Bowls very similar to this example have been found in excavations throughout the Byzantine world. Animals associated with the hunt—birds of prey, large cats, deer, hares, and cranes—were common subject matter for Byzantine tableware. One of the creatures on this plate, a long-eared rabbit, is easily recognized. The other two animals have been identified as a large panther and its prey, a deer.

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