The Met, New York, United States
19 Nov 2023 - 03 Mar 2024
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
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.
