Manuscript Leaf with the Holy Communion, from a Book of Hours

Manuscript Leaf with the Holy Communion, from a Book of Hours

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The rubric at the top tells us that the prayers that follow are to be said before and after Communion. Therefore, the artist portrayed a priest administering the sacrament to a man in a fur-trimmed cloak, presumably the owner of the manuscript. The man, whose family arms appear on the adjacent leaf, appears again in the margin, following the priest, choir, and acolytes in procession, probably representing the feast of Corpus Christi.

Medieval Art and The Cloisters

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Manuscript Leaf with the Holy Communion, from a Book of HoursManuscript Leaf with the Holy Communion, from a Book of HoursManuscript Leaf with the Holy Communion, from a Book of HoursManuscript Leaf with the Holy Communion, from a Book of HoursManuscript Leaf with the Holy Communion, from a Book of Hours

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.