Half of a Prayer Bead with the Crucifixion

Half of a Prayer Bead with the Crucifixion

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

To give the events depicted all the drama of a stage set, the artist who created this prayer bead worked in layers. Some members of the crowd gathered for the Crucifixion were carved on a separate piece of boxwood that was then secured in place behind the Cross. They appear against the backdrop of a town with stepped facades and towers that look Netherlandish, not at all like the biblical city of Jerusalem.

Medieval Art and The Cloisters

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Half of a Prayer Bead with the CrucifixionHalf of a Prayer Bead with the CrucifixionHalf of a Prayer Bead with the CrucifixionHalf of a Prayer Bead with the CrucifixionHalf of a Prayer Bead with the Crucifixion

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.