Tile with a King Holding Flowers

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Two-colored, or encaustic, tiles like these were produced by pressing a wooden block with a design carved in relief into soft clay. The tiler then poured a cream-colored slip into the resulting impression, and the piece was fired with a lead glaze. The tiles, often decorated with heraldic motifs, were used for paving floors and for wainscoting.

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