Jesus Christ in Art: A Collection at The Metropolitan Museum

The Metropolitan Museum has a number of artworks related to Jesus Christ, the central figure of Christianity. These artworks date back to various periods in history, and provide insight into how different cultures and religions have represented Jesus. Jesus is often depicted as a teacher or prophet, and is often shown with the Virgin Mary, his mother. Some of the artworks in The Metropolitan Museum also depict Jesus' crucifixion and death, which is said to have occurred for the sins of mankind.

The Holy Family with the Young Saint John the Baptist

    This painting was commissioned by Giovanni Borgherini at a time when Florence had freed itself of Medici dominance.
    The painting shows John the Baptist passing the orb to Christ, indicating him as sole ruler of the city.
    In 1532, the Medici family was reinstated violently and permanently as its rulers.

Madonna and Child

    The painting depicts a group of figures separated from the viewer by a parapet.
    The figures are looking at the viewer and have their gazes engaged with the viewer.
    The painting is a metaphor for death and rebirth.

The Adoration of the Magi

    This picture - at once austere and tender - belongs to a series of seven showing the life of Christ.
    The masterly depiction of the stable, which is viewed from slightly below, and the columnar solidity of the figures are typical of Giotto, the founder of European painting.

The Penitence of Saint Jerome

    Albrecht Durer referred to the artist in 1521 as the "good landscape painter." The picture’s true subject, however, is the magnificent panoramic landscape, which the viewer is encouraged to travel through visually in the manner of a pilgrimage.

The Adoration of the Magi

    This painting was done in Antwerp, Belgium.
    The painting was influenced by Gerard David's work.
    The painting is of the Adoration of the Magi.

The Adoration of the Christ Child

    The newborn Christ Child, encircled by an adoring group that includes his mother and father, shepherds, animals and angels, lies naked in a manger.
    Adoration scenes, many influenced by the visionary account of Saint Bridget of Sweden ca. 1303 - 1373, were painted for the open market in Antwerp
    This picture, unlike other extant examples associated with the Master of Frankfurt and his workshop, does not depict the scene under the night sky, a feature that reduces the dramatic effect of the scene.
   Yet other elements, like the streaming hair of several angels, lends the picture a feeling of flickering movement

The Adoration of the Magi

    This painting is a very rare surviving example of distemper, a water-based medium, on canvas.
    The artist was active both in his native Ghent, in modern Belgium, and at the refined court of Urbino in Italy.
    Three Black figures in the composition - the African king, the servant handing him his gift, and an observer in the crowd - reflect the increasing presence of Black individuals in western Europe, but their strikingly similar appearance raises the question of whether they derive from a single model or, instead, were based on an idealized type.

Reliquary