Limestone Head of Joseph

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This engaging head can be linked to the decoration of the celebrated choir screen of the cathedral at Chartres. The stone screen, erected about 1230 and dismantled in 1763, originally stood at the choir entrance, separating the clergy from the congregation. It was decorated with narrative scenes of the early life of Jesus. This head belongs to the figure of Joseph, the carpenter and spouse of Mary, in the Nativity relief.

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