Lyre-Shaped Belt Buckle

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Composed of three separately cast elements—tongue, loop, and plaque—this buckle's configuration evokes the designation "lyre shaped." Aside from the tongue, the borders of the lyre design are in the highest relief, and portions of them are chased with diagonal striations. The smooth inner edges of the borders slope down to the depressed areas, which are filled with deeply engraved lines and punched circles that represent highly abstracted foliate designs. The loop is chased with hatching and the end of the tongue with cross-hatching. The recessed reverse of the plate is fitted with five cast lugs for attachment to a now-lost belt.

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