Medieval Art

The Cleveland Museum of Art’s collection of medieval art is recognized internationally as one of the most important and finest of its kind. It includes works of diverse materials with a chronological span from early Christianity to around 1500. In addition to works of Coptic and Byzantine art as well as works from the migration period, the collection’s focus is on Romanesque and Gothic art: sculptures, paintings, and goldsmith works along with textiles and manuscript illuminations. It also includes a collection of European arms and armor that is one of the most important in North America.

The high esteem of the medieval collection is due to numerous masterpieces, such as the early Christian Jonah marbles, the high medieval works from the Guelph treasure, the alabaster figures of mourners from the ducal tombs in Dijon (Burgundy, France), the so-called Table Fountain from the 1300s or Saint Jerome, one of the key works by Tilman Riemenschneider from around 1500.