Madonna of Mercy

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Madonna of Mercy was a popular iconographic type that interpreted the Virgin Mary as an intercessor in the salvation of human souls. Here she is shown protecting people from all walks of life-a king, a bishop, a young girl, an old woman, a bearded man, and a youth. This panel has been attributed to the principal master in charge of the glazing program at Strassengel. He was associated with the imperial workshops at Vienna, and his style is particularly elegant, characterized by well-proportioned figures, softly modeled drapery, and delicately painted ornamentation.

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