Manuscript Illumination with the Beheading of Saint Paul in an Initial S, from a Gradual

Manuscript Illumination with the Beheading of Saint Paul in an Initial S, from a Gradual

Master of Bagnacavallo

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Beheading of Saint Paul is one of two cuttings in the Metropolitan Museum's collection that was excised from the ensemble of choir books created for the Cathedral of Imola, near Bologna. As was often the case, the choir books were probably produced around the time of the cathedral's completion in 1271 and consecration in 1278. The patron may have been Bishop Sinibaldo Meloti da Certaldo, who also commissioned the decoration of the cathedral's tribune.

Medieval Art and The Cloisters

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Manuscript Illumination with the Beheading of Saint Paul in an Initial S, from a GradualManuscript Illumination with the Beheading of Saint Paul in an Initial S, from a GradualManuscript Illumination with the Beheading of Saint Paul in an Initial S, from a GradualManuscript Illumination with the Beheading of Saint Paul in an Initial S, from a GradualManuscript Illumination with the Beheading of Saint Paul in an Initial S, from a Gradual

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.