Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Celestial Globe
ʿAlam al-Din Qaysar Egyptian
Not on view
Covered with forty-eight figures from constellations and 1,025 stars graduated in size to convey relative magnitude, this splendid globe belonged to Sultan al-Malik al-Kamil (reigned 1218–1238), nephew of Saladin, who won control of Jerusalem in 1187. In al-Kamil’s hands, scientific instruments served as diplomatic tools. The exchange of beautiful and sophisticated works like this one provided a framework for friendship with the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II (1194–1250). Though adversaries, they were able to forge a decade-long treaty that ensured shared access to Jerusalem.
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