As registrar, Aileen Chuk organizes the arrival, installation, and return of loaned works of art for exhibitions at the Museum. I recently spoke with her about the preparations for Byzantium and Islam.

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The large Jordanian floor mosaics are some of the most provocative objects in the exhibition, a fact made evident in the lively talks at the recent symposium "Floor Mosaics in the Late Antique Mediterranean," which took place at the Met on May 11, 2012.

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I recently had the opportunity to speak with Pete Dandridge, Conservator and Administrator, The Sherman Fairchild Center for Objects Conservation, about his work preparing for the exhibition.

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Like Saint Anselm's, which I discussed in an earlier post, Saint Bartholomew's Church in New York City (often known as "St. Bart's") offers an example of early twentieth-century appreciation of the Byzantine aesthetic.

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Brandie Ratliff, the research associate for Byzantium and Islam, recently joined me for a chat about her participation in the show. She worked closely with the curator Dr. Helen Evans on many aspects of the exhibition and catalogue.

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In The Sisters of Sinai: How Two Lady Adventurers Discovered the Hidden Gospels, Janet Martin Soskice tells the story of twin sisters Agnes and Margaret Smith, born in Scotland in 1843, who made a discovery that would have implications for the future of biblical studies.

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Although this exhibition demonstrates how difficult it can be to draw definitive cultural distinctions during periods of transition, certain forms of dress from the period do indicate regional affiliations.

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One of the most interesting things about working on an exhibition is getting to meet all the different people involved on the project. Each member of the team performs a crucial role in preparing for an exhibition. I recently interviewed Kathrin Colburn, a textile conservator here, to find out about her work.

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Emperor Heraclius (ca. 575–641) came to power in 610 after instigating an overthrow of the reputedly tyrannical Emperor Phokas. Entering Constantinople, so the story goes, Heraclius captured Phocas and demanded: "Is this how you have ruled, wretch?" The belittled emperor replied, "And will you rule better?"

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Join us for two special events planned in conjunction with the exhibition, Friday, May 11, and Friday, June 15.

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In an address to the citizens of Damascus, the Umayyad caliph al-Walid I (r. 705–715) proclaimed: "Inhabitants of Damascus, four things give you a marked superiority over the rest of the world: your climate, your water, your fruits, and your baths. To these I wanted to add a fifth: this mosque."

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At the age of seven, Symeon Stylites the Younger expressed his religious fervor by ascending a pillar (stylos). In 541 he moved to a pillar located at a site called the Wondrous Mountain, eleven miles west of Antioch, Syria. Ascetic monks like Symeon, known as "stylites," resided on the top of tall pillars—where they were exposed to rain, snow, and wind—as a way to disengage from the sinful world. The men attracted a number of pilgrims, as evidenced by several tokens featuring images of stylites.

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The exhibition contains a number of letters that reveal the movement and flow of ideas throughout the territories of the Byzantine empire, including Egypt.

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In the heart of the Bronx, just off the 6 train, is the bustling, welcoming, and "byzantine" church of Saint Anselm. The church was built in 1916 and finished just one year later under Father Bernard Kevenhoerster, a prominent Benedictine prelate.1 Although the original design for the church called for a Gothic building, the structure and format intentionally emulates that of Hagia Sophia, the church built by Emperor Justinian in the sixth century. The massive dome that hovers over the nave, the colonnaded side aisles, and the impression from the exterior of dome shapes piled one atop the other all speak to the inspiration produced by the Constantinopolitan church, one that was shared by other American churches of the early twentieth century.2

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One of the mosaics on view in the exhibition comes from the city of Gerasa (modern-day Jerash, Jordan). Gerasa was an architecturally dense city founded during the second century B.C.E. Under Roman rule it included two theaters, two bath houses, a nymphaeum (public fountain), and a macellum (meat market). Although its prosperity diminished over time, by the third century C.E. the city had regained some of its wealth and reinstituted massive building campaigns.

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For anyone hoping for a solid introduction to the major monuments of early medieval Byzantine art, Robin Cormack's Byzantine Art is a perfect place to start.

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