Aquamanile in the Form of a Ram

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Scarborough, on England’s northeast coast, is still celebrated in song today for the annual fair it once hosted for merchants. The event was inaugurated by royal charter in 1253, around the time that one of the potteries created this jug in the form of a ram. Water would be added through the spout at the handle and poured out through the animal’s mouth. Like the examples in copper alloy in this gallery, the ram was used for handwashing.

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