Africa and Byzantium: Reflections on a Proposed New Synthesis (part 2/3)
The Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Catalogue edited by Andrea Myers Achi
Well before the start of the COVID epidemic in early 2020, nearly 50 curators and scholars combined forces to mount a major exhibition. Its remit: to trace the contributions, the exchanges, and the relations of Africa and Byzantium. Experts from various disciplines, media, and institutions drew on their know-how to produce an arresting set of displays, as well as an authoritative and attractive catalogue of 350 pages.
Of course, typically and appropriately, museum exhibitions focus on artifacts. And this is where the exhibition is stunning. Literally hundreds of objects exhibit not only beauty-in-themselves but also constitute clear examples of borrowing, combining, and critiquing, across the vast Southern European, Eastern European, and North African landscapes and seascapes.
Pentaglot Psalter Egypt 12th-14th century, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Monastry of Saint Macarius, Wadi al-Natrun
Whether or not you know about the particular provenance of these various artifacts and works of art, they constitute a powerful and memorable experience. On display are various statues, paintings, drawings, mosaics, texts, letters, diptychs, triptychs, statues, vessels, vases, plates, trays, hangings, carpets, lamps, tapestries, textiles, jewelry, chests, candlesticks, jugs, weapons large and small, pendants, books, illustrated or illuminated pages, letters, “magic scrolls” for healing, coins, and all manner of crosses, as well as photos and recreations of tombs, caskets, architectural columns, architectural plans, pyramids, churches, and other significant buildings... as well as mysteries for the uninitiated—as just one example,” A pentaglot psalter.”
Curtain fragment with riders, Egypt, 5-7th century CE, Metropolitan Museum of Art
For many (if not most) visitors to the exhibit, the experience of beholding and admiring these often stunning objects suffices. Indeed, if time allows, novices (like me) should consider multiple visits to the exhibition—particularly, since it is unlikely to be replicated in the near future, if ever.
But as is the case for any seriously mounted presentation at a major museum, there is lively scholarship and discussion around many of the artifacts (and art facts!) on display. In some cases, the scholarship is assertively confident: These dark figures are late antique Egyptian textiles (5th-7th century).
Sometimes it is less sure—this Christian topography is possibly Sinai, in the early 11th century; these textile fragments are attributed to Egypt—810-1010. And sometimes the provenance and purpose remain unknown and accordingly open to debate.
Christian Topography of Cosmas Indicopleustes, possibly Sinai, early 11th century
Three textile fragments with Coptic inscription attributed to Egypt 810-1010, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Then there are tantalizing mysteries. For example, on the floor of a religious building once believed to be a Christian church—there is a menorah—the Jewish candelabrum for the holiday of Chanukah. Perhaps this really was a synagogue—or perhaps an amalgam of different faiths over different eras.
Another example: Workshops in a Cairo synagogue foregrounded inscriptions presumptively created when Muslim Jewish and Christian craftspeople carved side by side.
Dedicatory inscriptions from the Ben Ezra Synagogue, Egypt, Fustat, 13th century and 1220
And yet one more: Individuals who are clearly dark skinned—looking more like Africans of today, than like tanned Caucasians—portrayed together with individuals of light skin. What message, if any, is being sent by this juxtaposition? And is the sender the original artist, the curator, or both?
Certainties, probabilites, mysteries: This exhibition merits very high grades! And since my vote is hardly worth tallying, I can point you to highly enthusiastic reviews in The Atlantic (link here), The New York Review of Books (link here), The New York Times (link here), and The Washington Post (link here).