Africa & Byzantium at The Met Fifth Avenue

 

Bust of an African Child
Roman, 2nd-3rd century CE
Bronze
5 × 3 15/16 × 1 15/16 in. (12.7 × 10 × 4.9 cm)
RISD Museum, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence (11.035)
Photo: Erika Gould

 
 
 

Africa & Byzantium

November 19, 2023 — March 3, 2024

 
 

Art history has long emphasized the glories of the Byzantine Empire (circa 330–1453), but less known are the profound artistic contributions of North Africa, Egypt, Nubia, Ethiopia, and other powerful African kingdoms whose pivotal interactions with Byzantium had a lasting impact on the Mediterranean world. Bringing together a range of masterworks—from mosaic, sculpture, pottery, and metalwork to luxury objects, paintings, and religious manuscripts—this exhibition recounts Africa’s central role in international networks of trade and cultural exchange. With artworks rarely or never before seen in public, Africa & Byzantium sheds new light on the staggering artistic achievements of medieval Africa. This long-overdue exhibition highlights how the continent contributed to the development of the premodern world and offers a more complete history of the vibrant multiethnic societies of north and east Africa that shaped the artistic, economic, and cultural life of Byzantium and beyond.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Exhibition Highlights

 

Mosaic Panel of Preparations for a Feast
Tunisia, Carthage, late 2nd century CE
Marble, limestone, molten glass
94 1/2 x 88 5/8 in. (240 x 225 cm)
Paris, Musée du Louvre, Department of Greek, Roman, and Etruscan Antiquities (MNC 1577; Ma1796)
© RMN-Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY.
Photo: Hervé Lewandowski

Panel with Painted Image of Isis
Egypt, 2nd century
Tempera on wood
15 3/4 × 7 1/2 × 1/2 in. (40 × 19.1 × 1.3 cm)
J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
(74.AP.22)

Jeweled Bracelet (one of pair)
500–700
Gold, silver, pearls, amethyst, sapphire, glass, quartz
Overall: 1 1/2 x 3 1/4 in. (3.8 x 8.2 cm)
Strap: 7/8 x 7 11/16 in. (2.3 x 19.5 cm)
Bezel: 1 5/16 in. (3.4 cm)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917 (17.190.1671)

Bishop Petros Protected by Saint Peter
Faras, Sudan, late 10th century CE
Plaster and pigment
94 1/2 x 39 3/4 x 1 7/8 in., (240 x 101 x 4.8 cm)
National Museum, Warsaw (234031)
© National Museum, Warsaw

Icon with the Virgin and Child, Saints, Angels, and the Hand of God
Probably Constantinople, second half of 6th century C.E.
Encaustic on wood, wood
26 15/16 x 19 9/16 in. (68.5 x 49.7 cm)
The Holy Monastery of Saint Catherine, Sinai

Pectoral with Coins and Pseudo-Medallion
ca. 539–50
Byzantine
Gold, niello
Overall: 9 7/16 x 8 5/8 x 5/8 in. (23.9 x 21.9 x 1.6 cm)
ring: 19 11/16 x 3/8 in. (50 x 1 cm)
Medallion: 2 3/4 x 6 11/16 x 3/8 in. (7 x 17 x 1 cm)
weight: 11.9oz. (338g)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917 (17.190.1664)

Ashburnham Pentateuch
Late 6th-early 7th century
Ink and colors on parchment, 142 folios
15 9/16 × 13 3/16 in. (39.5 × 33.5 cm)
Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris (NAL 2334), fol. 65r.
Photo: Bibliothèque nationale de France - côte:N53019392

Bust of an African Child
Roman, 2nd-3rd century CE
Bronze
5 × 3 15/16 × 1 15/16 in. (12.7 × 10 × 4.9 cm)
RISD Museum, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence (11.035)
Photo: Erika Gould

Gold Necklace with Amphora (Vase) Pendant
4th century
Made in Alexandria, Egypt
Byzantine
Gold
7/8 x 3/8 x 16 5/8 in. (2.2 x 1 x 42.2 cm)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917 (17.190.1643)

Fragment from a Coptic Hanging
5th century
Attributed to Egypt
Linen, wool; plain weave, tapestry-weave
Textile: L. 40 15/16 in. (104 cm)
W. 24 13/16 in. (63 cm)
Mount: L. 46 1/4 in. (117.5 cm)
W. 31 1/8 in. (79.1 cm)
D. 2 1/4 in. (5.7 cm)
Wt. 30 lbs. (13.6 kg)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of George F. Baker, 1890 (90.5.905)

Possibly Wäldä Maryam
Wall Painting with Saints Täklä Haymanot and Ewostatewos
Gondar, Ethiopia, second half 17th century
Paint on canvas remounted on cotton
5 1/8 × 1 × 45 1/4 in., 16.3 lb. (140 × 2.5 × 115 cm, 7.4 kg)
Overall with mounting: 55 11/16 × 45 7/8 in. (141.5 × 116.5 cm)
Musée du Quai Branly–Jacques Chirac, Paris (71.1931.74.3588).
© Art Resource, NY
Photo: Patrick Gries/Bruno Descoings

Bracelet
ca. 400
Made in probably Rome
Byzantine
Gold
Overall: 2 3/4 x 2 5/16 x 1 7/8 in. (7 x 5.9 x 4.8 cm)
strap: 6 1/8 in. (15.5 cm)
weight: 5.7oz. (162g)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917 (17.190.1669)

Lady of Carthage
Tunisia, 4th-5th century CE
Marble and green glass
43 5/16 x 41 3/4 in. (110 x 106 cm)
Musée National de Carthage, Inv. Np. 019ECC7
© Musée National de Carthage

Wall Painting with Christ and a Nubian Dignitary
Faras, Nubia, mid 12th century
Plaster and tempera
86 5/8 × 29 1/2 × 1 15/16 in., 92.6 lb. (220 × 75 × 5 cm, 42 kg)
National Museum, Warsaw (234033 MNW)
© National Museum, Warsaw
Photo: Oleksiak Adam

Icon of the Virgin Enthroned
Egypt, 6th century
Wool
70 1/16 × 43 5/16 in., 65 lb. (178 × 110 cm, 29.5 kg)
Cleveland Museum of Art, Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund (1967.144)

Psalter
Tigray, Ethiopia, 15th century
Ink and tempera on parchment
12 3/16 × 8 11/16 in. (31 × 22 cm)
Bibliothèque nationale de France
Département des Manuscrits (Ethiopien d'Abbadie 105)

Casket with Warriors and Dancers
11th century
Made in Constantinople
Byzantine
Ivory and bone; gilded copper mounts
8 x 11 3/8 x 7 1/2 in. (20.3 x 28.9 x 19.1 cm)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917 (17.190.239)

Diptych with Saint George and the Virgin and Child
Ethiopia, late 15th – early 16th century
Paint on wood
20 1/2 × 26 5/16 × 1 3/16 in. (52 × 66.8 × 3 cm)
National Museum of African Art, Washington, D.C.,
Gift of Joseph and Patricia Brumit; Conservation of this work supported by the Smithsonian Institution Women’s Committee, (2004-7-2)
Photo: Franko Khoury

Marian Triptych
Ethiopia, mid-to late 15th century
Tempera on wood
28.5 x 41.5 x 2 cm (11 1/4 x 16 5/16 x 13/16 in.)
National Museum of African Art, Washington D.C., gift of Joseph and Patricia Brumit, Conservation of this artwork supported by the Smithsonian Institution Women's Committee, 2007-4-1
© National Museum of African Art
Photo: Franko Khoury

Toilet Box
Karanog, Egypt, 100 BCE and 300 CE
Wood and ivory
11 1/16 × 10 9/16 × 9 1/8 in. (28.1 × 26.9 × 23.1 cm.)
The Ecley B. Coxe Jr. Expedition to Nubia, Karanog,
Aniba Cemetery; D. Randall-Maclver and C. L. Wooley, 1908, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia (E7519)
Photo: Penn Museum Photo Studio

Tile with Lion
Carthage, second half 6th century
Beige slip
11 1/2 × 11 9/16 in., 7.7 lb. (29.2 × 29.3 cm, 3.5 kg)
Musée National de Carthage (inv. L 85)

Mosaic with Lion
Hammam Lif, Tunisia, 6th century CE
Stone tesserae
29 5/16 × 42 1/4 × 1 5/8 in., 172 lb. (74.5 × 107.3 × 4.1 cm, 78 kg)
Brooklyn Museum, New York, Museum Collection Fund (05.18)

 
News 14, Exhibitions 3Editorial TeamArt of the Ancestors, Steven G. Alpert, Asian Art, Island Southeast Asian Art, Oceanic Art, Asiatica, Ethnographica, Ethnographic Art, Art Collection, Fine Art, Primitive Art, Indonesian Art, Tribal Art, Eyes of the Ancestors, Dr. Reimar Schefold