Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Sapphire Ring, from the Colmar Treasure
Not on view
A Jewish gem merchant writing in Venice in 1403 described sapphires as being "as luminous as the heavens." Associated with purity and chastity, the blue stones were prized by wealthy citizens. The finest examples, described in inventories as "Ceylon sapphires," were imported to medieval Europe from present-day Sri Lanka.
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