Manuscript Illumination with Crucifixion in an Initial T, from a Missal

Manuscript Illumination with Crucifixion in an Initial T, from a Missal

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The use of shades of grey lends both a sculptural and a mournful quality to the figures of Jesus on the cross, the Virgin Mary, and Saint John. While the painting reflects Parisian taste around 1400, the lettering on the hidden reverse corresponds to Italian manuscripts. The southern French city of Avignon was an artistic center where a French illuminator and an Italian scribe may have collaborated.

Medieval Art and The Cloisters

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Manuscript Illumination with Crucifixion in an Initial T, from a MissalManuscript Illumination with Crucifixion in an Initial T, from a MissalManuscript Illumination with Crucifixion in an Initial T, from a MissalManuscript Illumination with Crucifixion in an Initial T, from a MissalManuscript Illumination with Crucifixion in an Initial T, from a Missal

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.