The Fabled Thread

Recently I was lucky enough to get to spend an entire day in The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. I was completely blown away the depth and breadth of the collection, and discovered works and types of art I have never seen before. Given not everyone is able to travel to The Met, I wanted to take you on a virtual tour with me, picking out all my highlights from the exhibitions (as you'll imagine, its quite heavily figurative!).

Where ever possible, I have transcribed the information that was presented alongside the artwork, so you can understand the origin and go on to research more around the works you find inspiring. As you can imagine, after 6 hours in The Met, my camera role was pretty full (I walked over 7 miles!). So I have had to split this down into two parts. The first part here covers the Byzantine, Egyptian and Middle Eastern galleries.

Section from a pair of curtains, Egypt, Akhmim (maybe), 6th-7th century. The decorations represent ideals of victory and joy. Like many weavings from late antique and Byzantine Egypt, these curtains survive due to Egypts dry climate and the custom of wrapping the dead in recycled textiles.

Bridal chest, Nubia (Sudan), Oustul, 4th - 6th Century. After the fall of Meroe, the royal family shifted their cemeteries to the twin sites of Ballana and Qustul. This wood chest, found at Qustul, has twenty-one inlaid ivory panels, incised and filled with red and green wax paste. The panels depict mythological motifs related to fertility and prosperity.

Box, Nubia (Sudan), Karanog, 100BC - 300CE. The box was excavated from a grave in Karanog, a Nubian town with both elite and middle-class houses and a cemetery with graves that contained numerous goods.

Icon with the virgin enthroned, Egypt, 6th Century. A wool, slit- and dovetailed-tapestry weave. This textile is among the earliest extant icons. Mary, holding the infant Christ, sits on a jeweled throne with the archangels Michael and Gabriel at her sides. "The Holy Mary" is inscribed above her in Greek. Columns with ornate capitals that resemble those in contemporary churches support a lintel. The entire cloth is surrounded by a floriate border, with busts of the evangelists and the apostles in roundels encircling the lower portion. The textile probably served as a wall hanging in a place of worship. Though likely produced in Egypt, the icon resembles sacred objects throughout the larger Byzantine world and beyond.

"Mosaics Al Hammam-lif", from Revue Archeologique Cantiquite et Moyen Age, Ernest Renan, French, 1823-1892. Due to destructive excavation practices at Hammam-Lif, this plate remains our best source for what the synagogue's complete mosaic floor would have looked like before its panels were separated and dispersed. At right and left are representations of wildlife against a foliage pattern, including images similar to non-Jewish mosaics in the area, indicating that the mosaics were produced in regional workshops.

Vita Icon of Saint George with scenes of his passion and miracles, Egypt (possibly Sinai). Early 13th Century. Tempera and gold on wood Saint George was an eastern Christian Roman soldier said to have been martyred in Syria in the early fourth century. Images of the saint on a white horse appear around the world, from Constantinople to Ethiopia. "Vita icons" were developed to narrate the lives of saints admired by the varied multiethnic and multicultural peoples coming to pilgrimage centers such as the Holy Monastery of Saint Catherine. In this vita icon, Saint George's large image is surrounded by twenty narrative scenes, including one at the lower left showing him on a white horse with a princess and a dragon.

The Saint Michael Collection and Coptic Litury Although the Christian liturgy in Egypt has features unique to the region, influences from other have throughout its 2000 year history. Several avenues enabled liturgical migrations to Egypt from Rome, Jerusalem, Antioch, and Constantinople. At the same time, Egyptian traditions the liturgy in regions south of the Nile valley, namely, the Nubian and Ethiopian. The Saint Michael Collection comprises forty- seven Coptic manuscripts produced between 823 and 914 at a momentary dedicated to the archangel Michael. A complex network of scribes, patrons, and donors created this group, and their names are memorialised in the notes at the back of each book. These are two pages taken from the book.

Diptych with Saint George and the Virgin and child, Ethiopia, Late 15th- early 16th Century Paint on wood Panel paintings became widespread in Ethiopia only in the fifteenth century, likely in response to the expansion of Mary's cult championed by the emperor Zär'a Ya'aqob (1399-1468). This diptych features images popular in Ethiopian art of this period. Here, the Virgin and Child face a mounted Saint George, who, according to contemporary texts, remains at the Virgin's side when not carrying out a mission on her behalf. Independently, the image of him slaying the dragon to save the princess of Beirut spread across Ethiopia to the eastern Mediterranean and Horn of Africa, inspired by the growing circulation of texts on the saint's life.

Folio from a gospel book with a portrait of Saint John, Ethiopia, c. 1500. Ink on parchment These portraits are detached pages from the same Gospel book. On the left is Saint Luke. The caption above him reads, in Gǝ'ǝz, "Picture of Saint Luke who narrated, in the guise of an ox. May his prayer and blessing be upon us. Amen," the ox being Luke's symbol. The portrait on the right depicts Saint John with his symbol, the eagle. The caption above him reads, "Picture of Saint John the Evangelist, in the guise of the flying eagle. May his prayer be for us a wall against the power of the enemy and torment. Amen" Evangelist portraits accompanied by their symbols are rare in Ethiopian art, making these leaves distinctive.

Gundä Gunde Gospels, Ethiopia, 1400-80 Ink and pigment on parchment The illuminated manuscripts produced at Gundä Gunde share certain distinctive features, such as figures with elongated faces and textiles as interlocking geometric patterns. One can see the style in the folio shown here, of the Virgin and Child with the archangels Michael and Gabriel. It exemplifies the exceptional quality of all the paintings in the manuscript, with their vivid red, green, blue, and yellow hues showing few signs of fading.

Ärganonä Maryam (Origin of Mary). Ethiopia, Lasta. Late 17th Century. Pigment ink on parchment. This prayer book combines Christian and "magical" imagery. Christian and magical (or noncanonical) beliefs entangle in Ethiopian Orthodoxy. Typically included in scrolls or codices, talismanic images (tälsämat) are a particular kind of representation of magical belief; they depict the invisible world. This page depicts Abba Giyorgis of Sägla, the fifteenth-century author of this hymn of praise. He was notable for writing original compositions in Gəvəz, whereas most Ethiopian religious texts were translated from Greek, Coptic, or Arabic sources. Elements of the geometry of the tälsämat were incorporated into Abba Giyorgis's robe.

Tä'ammerä Maryam (Miracles of Mary), Ethiopia, Gondar. Late 17th Century. In the early modern period, Gondar had a thriving book production center. The stories in the Tä ammǝrä Maryam encouraged viewers to address their prayers to the Virgin Mary, whose strong motherly bond to Christ is the source of her special intercessory power. In this page an afflicted man offers prayers in the presence of a prominent person.

Unfortunately I haven't got information on the origin of this panel.

The following images are from the Egyptian galleries. Where available I have included the item descriptions however I couldn't find these for all the items