Processional Cross

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

One of the largest early crosses to survive, this severely simple work is part of the Antioch Treasure displayed in the case to the left. Crosses were carried in church processions. In Syria, monumental crosses were also prominently mounted in churches, before the altar. Inscribed on the face of the cross is the Trisagion, or thrice-holy hymn, sung at the beginning of the Divine Liturgy: “God is Holy, the All-Powerful is Holy, the Immortal is Holy.” Some believe that the refrain was developed in Antioch; its first recorded chanting was by the bishops of Antioch at the Council of Chalcedon in 451. On the back of the cross is the proud statement of its donation “in fulfillment of a vow of Herodotos and Komitas, [sons] of Pantaleon.”

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