Painted Box for Game Pieces

Painted Box for Game Pieces

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The unicorn appears at the front left, near a stag, the forest animal it most closely resembles. Judging from its painted decoration and shape, this box probably contained disk-shaped pieces for tric trac, a game similar to backgammon.

Medieval Art and The Cloisters

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Painted Box for Game PiecesPainted Box for Game PiecesPainted Box for Game PiecesPainted Box for Game PiecesPainted Box for Game Pieces

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.