The Battle with the Sagittary and the Conference at Achilles' Tent (from Scenes from the Story of the Trojan War)

The Battle with the Sagittary and the Conference at Achilles' Tent (from Scenes from the Story of the Trojan War)

Jean or Pasquier Grenier

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This fragment is one of three in the Museum's collection that comes from two or more tapestries depicting scenes from the Trojan War. In the lower left portion of the tapestry, mounted Greek warriors are driven back to their tents by the terrifying figure of the Sagittary, a centaur (part man and part horse) whose powerful figure dominates the center of the scene and who fights on the side of the Trojans. Medieval accounts of the war introduced the idea of a truce after the fifth battle, during which Hector visited Achilles in his camp. It is this truce scene that occupies the lower right portion of the tapestry. A large banderole at the top containing quatrains in French and a small banderole at the bottom left with distichs in Latin describe the events depicted. In addition, the names of the participants in the battle, such as Achilles, are inscribed on the clothing and armor of some of the figures. In 1488 the English king, Henry VII, bought a set of eleven Trojan War tapestries from Jean Grenier, one of Pasquier Grenier's sons. It is likely that the Museum's hangings were also produced by the Grenier family.

Medieval Art and The Cloisters

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Battle with the Sagittary and the Conference at Achilles' Tent (from Scenes from the Story of the Trojan War)The Battle with the Sagittary and the Conference at Achilles' Tent (from Scenes from the Story of the Trojan War)The Battle with the Sagittary and the Conference at Achilles' Tent (from Scenes from the Story of the Trojan War)The Battle with the Sagittary and the Conference at Achilles' Tent (from Scenes from the Story of the Trojan War)The Battle with the Sagittary and the Conference at Achilles' Tent (from Scenes from the Story of the Trojan War)

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.