Gold Earring

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Hoop earrings with polyhedral beads, derived from Late Roman jewelry, were adopted by eastern Germanic women in the fifth century. The distinctive beads, which serve as terminals for the hoops, generally have fourteen sides, eight of which are triangular and six diamond-shaped. Versions have been found made of silver and gold; the polyhedral terminals might be composed of simple undecorated planes or inlaid with semiprecious stones or glass. The Museum's pair, with granulated ornament and a hoop made of two twisted wires, represents a sophisticated and delicate example of the goldsmith's art.

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