Manuscript Leaf with Saint Christopher Bearing Christ

Manuscript Leaf with Saint Christopher Bearing Christ

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This manuscript leaf was probably the frontispiece for a Book of Psalms. It depicts Saint Christopher carrying the Christ Child across the stream. According to legend, when Christ ordered the saint to plant his staff into the ground, it was transformed into a vigorously growing vine bearing leaves and fruit, suggesting his divinity. The refined monumentality of the figure of Saint Christopher recalls a figural style also used in stained-glass compositions and panel painting, and is similar to that of the shrine of the Virgin (17.190.185) exhibited in this gallery.

Medieval Art and The Cloisters

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Manuscript Leaf with Saint Christopher Bearing ChristManuscript Leaf with Saint Christopher Bearing ChristManuscript Leaf with Saint Christopher Bearing ChristManuscript Leaf with Saint Christopher Bearing ChristManuscript Leaf with Saint Christopher Bearing Christ

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.