The major autumn exhibition, entitled Gothic Art for England 1400 to 1547, features for the first time late medieval art from the reign of Henry IV to Henry VIII.
The Cadaver tomb of John Baret, which dates from the 1450s, has been loaned by St Mary's Church, Bury.
John Baret was a rich clothier who died in 1467, but the tomb, which portrayed him as an emaciated, decaying corpse, was actually made while he was alive – to remind him of the inevitability of death and to encourage prayer for the dead.
Known as a pardon grave, the belief was that the person commemorated had been given a pardon or remission from purgatory.
The tomb was made in Bury, probably in the workshop of Simon Clerk, master mason at the Abbey.
Inscribed are the words: "He that will sadly behold me with his eye, may see his own morrow and learn to die."
Also on show is an oil on oak painting thought to have been painted by Robert Pygot, from Bury, around 1455. The painting, Scenes from the Life of St Etheldreda, was found in a cottage in Ely and loaned to the exhibition by the Society of Antiquaries of London.
The Hessett burse, which dates back to the early 15th Century is made of painted linen and is extremely rare – no other painted burses of this kind are thought to exist.
Burses are used in Catholic churches to carry and hold the corporal, a plain linen cloth placed under the consecrated host and chalice during mass. The burse has been loaned by the British Museum in London.
The Church of St Mary the Virgin, in Mendlesham, has loaned a set of light half armour, dated between 1510 and 1520.
Made of steel and leather, the armour comes from a parish armoury, one of the few that survived in England and is a rare example of almain rivet armour, originally from Germany.
Tickets to the exhibition cost £8 for adults, £5 for senior citizens and full-time students, and is free to under 18s, disabled people and carers. They can be booked on 0870 906 3883 or by visiting www.vam.ac.uk