Floor plan

Time and placeThe 14th century

The 14th century

Saint Catherine of Alexandria, by Pietro Lorenzetti, ca. 1342
Handscroll
Shown from the waist up, a woman wearing a garnet-red robe rests a book and a palm frond against a spiked wheel, all against a gold background in this arched, vertical painting. The woman’s light skin is tinged with pale green, and her cheeks are faint pink. Her shoulders face us, and she slightly looks up and off to our right with gray eyes under curved brows. She has a long, straight nose, and her small, full, bow-shaped lips are closed. Her wavy blond hair is parted down the middle and pulled back at the base of her head. Her red robe has a pattern of delicate diamond shapes and the underside is white, visible where it turns over around the neck. The robe is fastened with a round, gold disk the size of a DVD. Letters there read, “S.K.A.T.E.R.I.N.A.” around the perimeter of a four-lobed, red, blue, and gold geometric design at the center of the brooch. The sky-blue garment beneath her robe has a marine-blue collar. She clasps the palm frond in her left hand, to our right. The hand rests on the book, which is propped against the wheel in front of her, so the frond reaches beyond and above that shoulder, nearly to the edge of the painting. The wheel is edged with short, curving spikes like talons. The woman’s gold crown and round halo blend into the shimmering gold background, which is visibly cracked in some areas. The top of the panel curves up as if into an arch but is cut across the panel over her halo.
The Agony in the Garden, by Ludwig of Ulm
Album leaf
Folio from a Mu'nis al-ahrar fi daqa'iq al-ash'ar (The Free Man's Companion to the Subtleties of Poems) of Jajarmi, by Muhammad ibn Badr al-Din Jajarmi, dated 741 AH/1341 CE
Saint Andrew, by Simone Martini, ca. 1326
Portrait of Shun'oku Myōha, ca. 1383

The works in this room are listed below.

Works in this room

Works made in the 14th century, anywhere in the world.

First room, north wall

  1. Saint Catherine of Alexandria, by Pietro Lorenzetti, ca. 1342
    Saint Catherine of AlexandriaPietro Lorenzetti, ca. 1342Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. Handscroll
    Palace ladies tuning a zither (qin)Traditionally attributed to Zhou Fang, 1368-1644Courtesy of the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution
  3. Shown from the waist up, a woman wearing a garnet-red robe rests a book and a palm frond against a spiked wheel, all against a gold background in this arched, vertical painting. The woman’s light skin is tinged with pale green, and her cheeks are faint pink. Her shoulders face us, and she slightly looks up and off to our right with gray eyes under curved brows. She has a long, straight nose, and her small, full, bow-shaped lips are closed. Her wavy blond hair is parted down the middle and pulled back at the base of her head. Her red robe has a pattern of delicate diamond shapes and the underside is white, visible where it turns over around the neck. The robe is fastened with a round, gold disk the size of a DVD. Letters there read, “S.K.A.T.E.R.I.N.A.” around the perimeter of a four-lobed, red, blue, and gold geometric design at the center of the brooch. The sky-blue garment beneath her robe has a marine-blue collar. She clasps the palm frond in her left hand, to our right. The hand rests on the book, which is propped against the wheel in front of her, so the frond reaches beyond and above that shoulder, nearly to the edge of the painting. The wheel is edged with short, curving spikes like talons. The woman’s gold crown and round halo blend into the shimmering gold background, which is visibly cracked in some areas. The top of the panel curves up as if into an arch but is cut across the panel over her halo.
    Saint Catherine of AlexandriaBartolomeo Bulgarini, c. 1335/1340Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  4. The Agony in the Garden, by Ludwig of Ulm
    The Agony in the GardenLudwig of UlmCourtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington

First room, south wall

  1. Album leaf
    Dragon among cloudsTraditionally attributed to Chen Rong, 1368-1644Courtesy of the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution
  2. Folio from a Mu'nis al-ahrar fi daqa'iq al-ash'ar (The Free Man's Companion to the Subtleties of Poems) of Jajarmi, by Muhammad ibn Badr al-Din Jajarmi, dated 741 AH/1341 CE
    Folio from a Mu'nis al-ahrar fi daqa'iq al-ash'ar (The Free Man's Companion to the Subtleties of Poems) of JajarmiMuhammad ibn Badr al-Din Jajarmi, dated 741 AH/1341 CECourtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  3. Saint Andrew, by Simone Martini, ca. 1326
    Saint AndrewSimone Martini, ca. 1326Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  4. Portrait of Shun'oku Myōha, ca. 1383
    Portrait of Shun'oku MyōhaUnrecorded Japanese maker, ca. 1383Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Second room, south wall

  1. Folio from a Qur'an Manuscript, by Ahmad ibn al-Suhrawardi al-Bakri, dated 707 AH/1307–8 CE
    Folio from a Qur'an ManuscriptAhmad ibn al-Suhrawardi al-Bakri, dated 707 AH/1307–8 CECourtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. Lineage Portrait of an Abbot, ca. 1350
    Lineage Portrait of an AbbotUnrecorded Himalayan maker, ca. 1350Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  3. "The Four Knights of Kai Khusrau in the Mountains", Folio from a Shahnama (Book of Kings), by Abu'l Qasim Firdausi, dated 741 AH/1341 CE
    "The Four Knights of Kai Khusrau in the Mountains", Folio from a Shahnama (Book of Kings)Abu'l Qasim Firdausi, dated 741 AH/1341 CECourtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  4. Dragon pine, by Wu Boli, late 14th–early 15th century
    Dragon pineWu Boli, late 14th–early 15th centuryCourtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Second room, north wall

  1. Madonna and Child, by Simone Martini, ca. 1326
    Madonna and ChildSimone Martini, ca. 1326Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. "The Elephant Clock", Folio from a Book of the Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices by al-Jazari, by Farrukh ibn `Abd al-Latif, dated 715 AH/1315 CE
    "The Elephant Clock", Folio from a Book of the Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices by al-JazariFarrukh ibn `Abd al-Latif, dated 715 AH/1315 CECourtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  3. Book Cover, by Italian (Sienese) Painter
    Book CoverItalian (Sienese) PainterCourtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  4. Hanging scroll (mounted on panel)
    After the rain: fishing nets drying on the shoreTraditionally attributed to Li Tang, 1368-1644Courtesy of the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution