Most Medieval depictions of Jesus are gentle. Why is this carving so dramatic?

"The power that this sculpture has is precisely in the fact that it's not always concerned with naturalism and it's really concerned with telling a story."

"The power that this sculpture has is precisely in the fact that it's not always concerned with naturalism and it's really concerned with telling a story."

Curator Peter Barnet on the "Plaque with the Journey to Emmaus and Noli Me Tangere."

Explore this object:
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/464443

Throughout 2013, The Met invited curators from across the Museum to each talk about one artwork that changed the way they see the world.

Photography by Oi-Cheong Lee

Subscribe for new content from The Met: https://www.youtube.com/user/metmuseum?sub_confirmation=1

#TheMet #ArtExplained #Art


Contributors

Peter Barnet
Senior Curator, Department of Medieval Art and The Cloisters

A small wooden carved box featuring figures and a tree in relief.
The author of After Sappho offers a queer feminist reading of Eve and the serpent, reimagining sin as likeness, desire, and bodies transcending gender and species.
Selby Wynn Schwartz
January 9
A close-up detail of a painted face rendered in muted green, blue, and gray tones.
Author Leena Krohn reflects on Helene Schjerfbeck’s portrait of Sigrid Nyberg.
Leena Krohn
December 18, 2025
Black woman wearing all black, standing in front of mannequins dressed in blue, yellow and beige.
Video

Superfine Artist Tanda Francis, shares her inspiration behind the design of the custom mannequins used in the Superfine: Tailoring Black Style exhibition.

October 23, 2025
More in:Art ExplainedReligion & Spirituality

A slider containing 1 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.