Censer with Animal and Scroll Motifs

Censer with Animal and Scroll Motifs

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Burning incense during church services symbolizes prayers rising to heaven. The architectural form of this censer is enriched by the animal forms that inhabit the surface.

Medieval Art and The Cloisters

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Censer with Animal and Scroll MotifsCenser with Animal and Scroll MotifsCenser with Animal and Scroll MotifsCenser with Animal and Scroll MotifsCenser with Animal and Scroll Motifs

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.