The Met Cloisters Presents 'Creatures of Myth and Imagination: Europe and the Americas'
From May 18 to October 18, 2026, The Met Cloisters will showcase 'Creatures of Myth and Imagination: Europe and the Americas.' This exhibition, co-curated by Julia Perratore, Laura Filloy Nadal, and Joanne Pillsbury, will display over 50 artifacts dating from 500 to 1500 CE, mostly drawn from The Met's own collection. Notably, this will be the first time ancient American art is exhibited at The Met Cloisters. Significant loans include a sculpture of Tzinacantecuhtli from Mexico City. Featured items comprise a Tairona gold pendant, a dragon fresco from Spain, and a Moche ear ornament. The exhibition explores the role of hybrid beings as instruments of social control and their resonance in modern media.
Key facts
- Exhibition dates: May 18 – October 18, 2026, at The Met Cloisters, New York.
- Over 50 objects from 500–1500 CE, including sculpture, ceramics, ivories, textiles, paintings, and metalwork.
- Co-curators: Julia Perratore, Laura Filloy Nadal, and Joanne Pillsbury.
- First presentation of ancient American art at The Met Cloisters.
- Key loan: Tzinacantecuhtli (Zapotec 'bat lord') from Museo del Templo Mayor, Mexico City, never before in New York.
- Featured works: Tairona gold pendant (northern Colombia), dragon fresco from San Pedro de Arlanza (Spain), Moche ear ornament with winged runner.
- Max Hollein, Marina Kellen French Director and CEO, emphasized the exhibition's illumination of shared creativity.
- The exhibition examines hybrids as agents of social control and their roles in identity formation and bridging heaven and earth.
Entities
Artists
- Julia Perratore
- Laura Filloy Nadal
- Joanne Pillsbury
- Max Hollein
- Nelson A. Rockefeller
- Alice K. Bache
- Amanda Suárez Calderón
- Christine Giuntini
- Deborah Schorsch
- Luis Jaime Castillo
- Bégon III
- J. Pierpont Morgan
- Nathan Cummings
- Henry G. Marquand
- Dr Marcus Bunyan
Institutions
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- The Met Cloisters
- Michael C. Rockefeller Wing
- Museo del Templo Mayor
- Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia
- The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection
- Fletcher Fund
- Rogers Fund
- Cathedral of Salerno
- Abbey of Saint Foy at Conques
- Art Blart
- The Met Fifth Avenue
Locations
- New York
- United States
- Mexico City
- Mexico
- Colombia
- Spain
- Peru
- Costa Rica
- Panama
- Ecuador
- Chile
- Cologne
- Germany
- France
- Salerno
- Italy
- Conques
- Sitio Conte
- El Caño
- Loma Negra
- Chan Chan
- Nepeña River Valley
- Piura River
- Piura Valley
- Humboldt Current
- San Pedro de Arlanza
- New York City