For centuries, the Byzantine Empire ruled huge swathes of the world, including parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa. However, its connections with the last are often overlooked. The Met’s new exhibition presents nearly 200 objects and artworks, ranging from mosaics and frescoes to jewellery and illuminated manuscripts, that reflect the close relationship between Africa and Byzantium, with a focus on the period between the 4th and 15th centuries AD.
Africa in Late Antiquity
Well before the emergence of Byzantium, Egypt and other parts of northern Africa formed part of the extensive networks that spread across the vast Roman Empire. At the start of the exhibition is a mosaic dating to the late 2nd century AD, found in a wealthy home in Carthage, Tunisia. This beautiful work of art, showing a diverse group of men preparing for a feast, is a reminder of the multicultural nature of the Roman Empire, as well as the skills of North African craftspeople, which were valued across the ancient world. Both of these are prominent themes throughout the show.
Africa’s connections with the Roman Empire continued to grow after AD 330, when the imperial capital was moved to Constantinople, and Byzantium was born. Cities along the Mediterranean coast, like Alexandria and Carthage, lay within crucial provinces of the Byzantine Empire; in the ports of such cities, goods were traded and ideas exchanged, and evidence of these interactions can be seen in the art and culture of both Africa and Byzantium. The influence of the Byzantine Empire can also be seen in lands beyond its official borders, including the Kingdom of Nubia (in modern-day Sudan) and the Aksumite Empire (in Ethiopia). An array of impressive objects originating from places across Byzantium’s African provinces and further afield reflect the far-reaching nature of these networks, as well as a shared appreciation for beautiful objects. Nubian ivory inlay boxes feature figures from Greco-Roman mythology, medallions of Egyptian jewellery depict Byzantine emperors and the personification of Constantinople, and colourful textiles produced in Egyptian workshops feature a variety of Classical imagery. These objects are demonstrations not just of their patrons’ status and wealth, but of their knowledge and international connections.
Religion was also key to this cultural exchange. In particular, Christianity, which was legalised in the Roman Empire in AD 313, was thriving across northern and eastern Africa by the 4th century. Some of the world’s earliest monastic traditions emerged in Egypt, and strong networks of Christian communities across Africa and the rest of the Byzantine Empire shaped much of the art being created. A 6th-century textile icon showing Mary sitting on a bejewelled throne holding the infant Christ was probably made in Egypt, but the inscription is written in Greek, and other sacred objects resembling this one are found across the wider Byzantine world and beyond. Another example of a wood icon showing a similar scene, found in Sinai, Egypt, is believed to have been made in Constantinople and possibly given to the Holy Monastery of St Catherine by Byzantine Emperor Justinian when he had the site fortified and a new church built there between AD 548 and 565.
Africa after Byzantium
The rising popularity of Islam in the 7th century signalled the end of the Byzantine Empire’s official control over the southern Mediterranean, but cultural exchange between Byzantium and Africa remained significant in the centuries that followed.
This was a period of great religious diversity in much of Africa, with Jewish, Muslim, and local religious traditions coexisting side by side. Although Christianity was no longer the majority religion, it continued to thrive in several regions. The Great Cathedral of Faras in the Kingdom of Nubia was home to a collection of impressive wall paintings, which were discovered and carefully removed by archaeologists in the 1960s, before the creation of the Aswan Dam flooded the area. A 10th-century example shows a Faras bishop called Petros being protected by the Apostle Peter, while a mid-12th-century painting shows Christ blessing a young Nubian ruler. These spectacular frescoes, created two centuries apart, demonstrate the continuing popularity of Christian iconography, and specifically of images of holy protectors watching over Christians in a world where Christianity was becoming a less popular option.
The links between Christian communities within Africa and beyond were still developing and inspiring new artistic styles and traditions. In Sinai, the Holy Monastery of St Catherine continued to attract pilgrims from far and wide. A ‘vita’ icon from the monastery, created in the early 13th century, shows scenes from the life and death of the famous 4th-century martyr St George. Artworks like this were found in many popular pilgrimage centres: on arrival, global travellers would be met by a guide – the monastic community usually contained at least one individual fluent in the relevant language – who would use these images to explain the saint’s story to them.
A lasting legacy
The reign of the Byzantine Empire ended in the 15th century with the Ottoman Empire’s conquest of Constantinople, but memories of Roman and Byzantine culture are reflected in the art created in north and north-eastern Africa many years later. The impressive objects on display in the Met’s new exhibition offer a valuable reminder of the rich visual culture of medieval Africa. It also challenges visitors to reconsider their preconceptions about what ‘Byzantium’ means, and highlights the inextricably intertwined nature of the relationship between the worlds of the Byzantine Empire and northern and eastern Africa in the medieval period.
DETAILS:
Africa & Byzantium
Address: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 Fifth Avenue, 82nd Street, New York, NY 10028, USA
Open: until 3 March 2024
Website: http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/africa-byzantium
Text: Amy Brunskill
