Bowl with Ornamented Rosette

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

A large number of glazed Byzantine ceramics have been excavated from shipwrecks along major Byzantine trade routes in the Aegean and Mediterranean seas. Ships would sail along the coastline, selling goods and taking on new cargo at each port. Differences in the chemical composition and manufacture of the excavated ceramics are evidence of multiple production centers and the complex trade network that moved wares throughout the Empire. The green color of the glaze on this bowl is the result of the vessel’s long immersion in sea water, probably after a shipwreck.

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