Tairona artist(s), Figure Pendant, Colombia, 900-1600 CE. Gold. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Jan Mitchell and Sons Collection, Gift of Jan Mitchell, 1991 (1991.419.31)<\/p>\n
Creatures of Myth and Imagination\u00a0will bring art of the ancient Americas to The Met Cloisters for the first time<\/p>\n
Exhibition Dates: May 18\u2013October 18, 2026
Exhibition Location: The Met Cloisters, Gallery 1, Gallery 10, and Gallery 16<\/p>\n
Hybrid beings\u2014imaginary creatures that combine features of different animals, humans, and even plants\u2014abound in the history of art, reflecting the human impulse across time and space to deconstruct, interchange, and reassemble elements of the known world into inventive entities and extraordinary visions. Opening this spring at The Met Cloisters,\u00a0Creatures of Myth and Imagination: Europe and the Americas\u00a0will explore fantastic beings in the visual arts over the course of a millennium, from 500 to 1500 CE. A collaborative effort between The Metropolitan Museum of Art\u2019s Met Cloisters location and Michael C. Rockefeller Wing at The Met Fifth Avenue, this exhibition will illuminate the parallel but independent traditions of Europe and the Americas to investigate the multiple functions of works depicting hybrids and the roles these objects played in people\u2019s lives. The exhibition will be on view May 18 through October 18, 2026.<\/p>\n
The exhibition is made possible by the Michel David-Weill Fund.<\/p>\n
\u201cArtistic traditions throughout human history have included images of fantastical hybrid creatures that combine elements of the natural world to evoke extraordinary, otherworldly powers,\u201d said Max Hollein, The Met\u2019s Marina Kellen French Director and Chief Executive Officer. \u201cBringing together works from two distinct cultures,\u00a0Creatures of Myth and Imagination\u00a0will illuminate the recurring motif of the mythical being and reveal the shared fascinations that drive creativity across time and space.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSupernatural, composite beings are key figures in the telling of stories, the making of myths, and the bridging of heaven and earth. Above all, they expand the spheres of action of their worldly counterparts. This exhibition explores how, in the hands of artists, imaginary creatures take on physical form and participate in many facets of human experience,\u201d said Julia Perratore, Associate Curator at The Met Cloisters.<\/p>\n
\u201cCreated from the stuff of nature, hybrid creatures are supernatural, endowed with powers beyond the visible and the knowable,\u201d added Laura Filloy Nadal, Curator in The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbove all, these creatures of myth and imagination provide us with ways of thinking about essential questions: they are ways of understanding who we are, and where our boundaries lie,\u201d noted Joanne Pillsbury, Andrall E. Pearson Curator, Arts of the Ancient Americas in The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing.<\/p>\n
Creatures of Myth and Imagination\u00a0will present over 50 objects, including paintings, sculpture, ceramics, ivories, textiles, and metalwork. Drawn mainly from The Met collection, the objects displayed will demonstrate how the varied materials of artistic expression are mobilized to create the uncreated. This will be the first time that art of the ancient Americas will be presented at The Met Cloisters, opening up exciting new avenues of dialogue between objects rarely seen together. The exhibition will also feature key loans from the Museo del Templo Mayor, part of the Instituto Nacional de Antropolog\u00eda e Historia in Mexico City, including a remarkable sculpture of Tzinacantecuhtli, the Zapotec \u201cbat lord,\u201d that has never before traveled to New York.<\/p>\n
This exhibition is accompanied by the Spring 2026 issue of\u00a0The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin.<\/p>\n
The Met\u2019s quarterly\u00a0Bulletin\u00a0program is supported in part by the Lila Acheson Wallace Fund for The Metropolitan Museum of Art, established by the cofounder of\u00a0Reader\u2019s Digest.<\/p>\n
The exhibition will be featured on The Met website and social media.<\/p>\n
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