Sicilian ivory pyxis with hunters, 13th century A larger image of this Sicilian ivory pyxis with hunters, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. A larger image of this Sicilian ivory pyxis with hunters, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Pyxis with hunters.
Box with Equestrian Falconers
Date: 13th century
Geography: Made in Sicily, Italy
Culture: Italian
Medium: Ivory with copper alloy mounts, polychromy
Dimensions: Overall (with mounts): 5 5/16 x 4 5/8 x 5 1/16 in. (13.5 x 11.7 x 12.9 cm)
Classification: Ivories
Credit Line: The Cloisters Collection, 1955
Accession Number: 55.29.2
Hunting scenes decorate a number of surviving cylindrical boxes made in Sicily. This box, depicting a falcon hunt, shows richly attired men on horseback. The sport was favored by Holy Roman emperor Frederick II Hohenstaufen (r. 1215–50), who wrote a definitive guide on the care and use of falcons in the hunt.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York