Pendant Cross Reliquary

Pendant Cross Reliquary

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Gilded silver reliquary crosses were popular in the Orthodox world in the Byzantine and post Byzantine centuries. This work survives in its entirety. The two halves of the reliquary display Christ and an enthroned Virgin flanked by medallions with busts of holy figures. The chain from which the reliquary hung is closed by a clasp with an image of a bearded figure, possibly representing God the Father.

Medieval Art and The Cloisters

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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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.