God of the Trinity

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Christians of the Middle Ages believed that God is three persons: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This enthroned God the Father comes from a larger composition known as a Shrine Madonna, like the complete example exhibited nearby (acc. no. 17.190.185). Devotional sculptures were often made of multiple elements; in this composition the corpus of Christ from the cross and the Dove of the Holy Spirit are missing. Closely related sculptures produced in the Upper Rhine and the area of Lake Constance were created specifically for female convents, suggesting that this figure also comes from such a context.

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