Panel with St. Peter or St. Paul (?)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Early images of religious figures are often difficult to identify. The book the man holds may mean that he is an evangelist, one of the authors of the four Gospels. His round face, short, curly beard, and balding head are typical for depictions of Saint Peter, but the lack of keys, which become a standard attribute of the saint, makes that identification uncertain. The nail holes on the edges of the ivory suggest that it may have been one of the many Byzantine ivories used to decorate the covers of religious texts when these were later taken to the West.

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