Manuscript Leaf with the Crucifixion in an Initial D, from a Book of Hours

Manuscript Leaf with the Crucifixion in an Initial D, from a Book of Hours

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Crucifixion serves as a kind of bookmark at the beginning of the Hours of the Cross, which tell of Christ’s Passion. This cycle of Latin prayers is to be said privately at seven different periods during the day. The winged creatures with human heads inject a note of bizarre humor to the sobering scene of Jesus’ death.

Medieval Art and The Cloisters

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Manuscript Leaf with the Crucifixion in an Initial D, from a Book of HoursManuscript Leaf with the Crucifixion in an Initial D, from a Book of HoursManuscript Leaf with the Crucifixion in an Initial D, from a Book of HoursManuscript Leaf with the Crucifixion in an Initial D, from a Book of HoursManuscript Leaf with the Crucifixion in an Initial D, 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.