Relief Panel with Lion Family

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The marble for this relief panel probably came from a Roman sarcophagus. The slab was recarved and reused during the early Middle Ages for a church in Nola, probably to be used as a choir screen. Lions are often used as symbols for Christ in Italy during this period, but the depiction of a family with a male, a female, and suckling cub is unique.

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