The Last Supper

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This scene of the Last Supper clearly shows each disciple, including Judas, who is seen at the lower right clutching his bag of money, a reference to his future betrayal. The elaborate and detailed carving indicates that the sculpture came from an important ecclesiastical setting, such as a sacrament house that contained the elements for celebrating mass. Cologne Cathedral contained such a structure, made by the sculptor Franz Maidburg (d. 1533), which was dismantled in the nineteenth century.

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