Manuscript Leaf with the Visitation in an Initial A and Cardinal Adam Easton with a Dominican Saint and Saint Dominic, from an Antiphonary

Manuscript Leaf with the Visitation in an Initial A and Cardinal Adam Easton with a Dominican Saint and Saint Dominic, from an Antiphonary

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The initial A of this leaf from an antiphonary contains an intimate image of the Virgin Mary embracing her cousin Elizabeth, known as the Visitation. Created in Venice around 1400, it was produced shortly after the universal celebration of the Feast of the Visitation was decreed by Pope Urban VI in 1389. The English cardinal Adam Easton, who wrote the office of the feast, is depicted in red in the central medallion at the bottom of the folio. He is flanked by Saint Dominic and another saint belonging to the order, suggesting that the antiphonary was created for Dominican use.

Medieval Art and The Cloisters

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Manuscript Leaf with the Visitation in an Initial A and Cardinal Adam Easton with a Dominican Saint and Saint Dominic, from an AntiphonaryManuscript Leaf with the Visitation in an Initial A and Cardinal Adam Easton with a Dominican Saint and Saint Dominic, from an AntiphonaryManuscript Leaf with the Visitation in an Initial A and Cardinal Adam Easton with a Dominican Saint and Saint Dominic, from an AntiphonaryManuscript Leaf with the Visitation in an Initial A and Cardinal Adam Easton with a Dominican Saint and Saint Dominic, from an AntiphonaryManuscript Leaf with the Visitation in an Initial A and Cardinal Adam Easton with a Dominican Saint and Saint Dominic, from an Antiphonary

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.