NANCY WU: This object, depicting a knight mounted on a horse, is known as an aquamanile. Aquamanilia are vessels used to wash hands. They come in many forms, often appearing as lions or imaginary beasts. Look closely at the knight’s helmet. It’s hinged, and can flip up, revealing how this brass pitcher was once filled. Water would have poured from the spout projecting from the horse’s head.

Many aquamanilia from the Middle Ages were used by priests during mass to wash their hands in symbolic purification. But given its subject matter, this one is more likely to have graced the dinner table of an aristocrat. It was made in the thirteenth century, a time when knights were respected members of the nobility. Indeed, the Middle Ages are often referred to now as the Age of Chivalry.The term ‘chivalry’ comes from the French word cheval, for horse.

PETER BARNET: The knight is probably one of the most familiar figures from the Middle Ages to visitors.

NANCY WU: Peter Barnet is Michel David-Weill Curator in Charge of the Department of Medieval Art and the Cloisters.

PETER BARNET: The knight is probably one of the most familiar figures from the Middle Ages to visitors and we see here a typical thirteenth century knight wearing an armor of mail covered by a sleeveless coat. This is typical armor of the period, including the helmet, although the knight as you see him here is missing two key elements that were most likely originally part of this object, and that is the shield and a long lance.