Philadelphia Museum of Art - On View : In the Galleries : European Art 1100-1500

These galleries trace the development of medieval and early Renaissance art as it flourished throughout Europe--particularly in medieval France and Renaissance Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands. As many of these works were commissioned for churches and monasteries, biblical images and themes of religious devotion predominate.

Highlights from the Collections

Fountain from the Monastery of Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa

Salome Receiving the Head of Saint John the Baptist

Explore objects on view in the European Art 1100-1500 galleries >>

In many of these works, biblical images and themes of religious devotion predominate

Grand architectural spaces, including a Medieval cloister from the Abbey of Saint-Genis-des-Fontaines and a portal from the Abbey Church of Saint-Laurent in France, provide the setting for individual works of art from the same era and location. Among the objects on display are illuminated manuscripts; sculptures and reliquaries; stained glass including three medallions from the Sainte-Chapelle church in Paris; rare metal and woodwork; and elements from domestic buildings.

The medieval and early Renaissance galleries are also home to Italian and Netherlandish painting, with superb examples from masters of the day such as Duccio di Buoninsegna and Fra Angelico, as well as Robert Campin, Jan van Eyck, and Rogier van der Weyden.

Hans Memling and the Iconic Image of Christ

Gallery 213, second floor

This installation celebrates the remarkable opportunity to exhibit the recently discovered Blessing Christ by the Netherlandish painter Hans Memling (first documented 1465, died 1494). This painting was unknown to modern scholars until last year, having been hidden away in a private collection for over 150 years. It is a significant find: Memling was the leading painter in Bruges, the trading capital of northern Europe, in the second half of the fifteenth century. In 1540, almost fifty years after the artist’s death, he was lauded as “the most skillful and most excellent painter of the whole Christian world.”

Medieval Cloister

Gallery 204, second floor

A Medieval cloister was usually a space at the heart of a monastery where a variety of highly regulated events in the lives of members of the religious order took place. The Museum’s cloister, based on the design at Saint-Genis-des-Fontaines in southwestern France, and the rare Romanesque fountain at its center, afford visitors a space for quiet thought.

Portal from the Abbey Church of Saint-Laurent

Gallery 201, second floor

This grand Medieval portal originally served as the main entrance to the small Augustinian abbey church of Saint-Laurent in central France. At the suggestion of George Grey Barnard, sculptor and collector of Medieval architecture and sculpture, two smaller doorways were added on either side of the portal when it was installed in the Museum in the late 1920s.

Please note, many of the objects on view in these galleries rotate periodically.