Roundel with Amazons and a Cross

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This silk fragment features two bare-breasted Amazons, or female warriors, who aim arrows at the rampant lions beneath their horses’ hooves. It is possible to trace the long popularity of this ancient iconography thanks to the large surviving numbers of similar silks in various colors and quality of weave. This example features a tiny cross at the top and bottom of the circular frame filled with heart shapes and vegetal patterns.

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