Dove

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Carved of walrus tusk, and now missing its original wings, this dove is a unique survival of such a figure in ivory and a very rare medieval sculpture of a bird executed fully in the round. Suspended from a beam or canopy, this sculpture may have hovered over a medieval church’s altar, symbolizing the Holy Spirit and representing its presence in the sacred space. It is possible to understand the dove as a kind of puppet – not usually the first thing that comes to mind when considering the liturgy of the medieval Church! Yet sculpture in the round often enhanced the performance of Christian ritual during the Middle Ages. Perhaps manipulated into "flight" through the tugging of strings attached to the holes drilled into its body, the dove could have "participated" in the ceremony of the Descent of the Holy Spirit associated with the feast of Pentecost. Alternatively, it could have indicated the presence of the Holy Spirit over a baptismal font during this sacrament of Christian initiation.

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