Box

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Boxes such as this one (olearia, or vessels for oil) have circular braces on the inside that hold vials of the three kinds of consecrated oil used for the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and Extreme Unction (anointing the sick). The oils are also used for the ordination of priests and the blessing of altars, fonts, bells, and liturgical vessels that will come into contact with the Eucharist.

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