Elder of the Apocalypse

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This figure can be identified as one of twenty-four elders who surround God’s throne in the Apocalypse (Book of Revelation). The text specifies that they hold harps, but medieval images portray them with a variety of musical instruments, here a viol. Elders never appear as single figures, so this roundel must have been part of a larger, imposing work of art, perhaps an altar, created for the abbey of Conques under Abbot Bégon III (r. 1087–1107).

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