Mosaic with a Peacock and Flowers

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This mosaic, probably part of a much larger floor mosaic, shows a peacock among flowers. The peacock was a popular subject for Roman and Byzantine artists, often used to represent paradise, renewal, and spring. Byzantines might have thought the peacock an appropriate symbol for the season, because its elaborate feathers grew each spring. Associating the peacock with heavenly paradise was an extension of the Byzantine vision of earthly paradise—many wealthy citizens were known to have kept peacocks to roam about the flowers and trees of their gardens.

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