Censer

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Censers were swung during church services, usually by deacons, releasing the sweet perfume of the incense that burned on hot coals within the vessel. The medallions on the long chains would have made changing patterns of light and dark as the censer was moved around the altar and over the Gospels and Eucharistic vessels. The large openwork medallion at the top is decorated with a variant of the Christogram, a monogram composed of the first two letters of Christ’s name in Greek, chi (X) and rho (P).

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