Stele of Apa Shenoute

5th–6th century

Not on view

Returned to lender

This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.

Apa Shenoute (346/47–465) was among the most dynamic religious figures in late antique Egypt. Recruited as abbot (apa) of the White Monastery in Sohag when the community included only a few dozen elderly monks, Shenoute oversaw the monastery’s expansion to a population of more than three thousand. He provided a model for monastic communities in Egypt through his reforms and writings and remains a popular figure in the Coptic Church today. The bearded figure, identified in Coptic as "Apa [Father] Shenoute," may commemorate the saint or perhaps a monk sharing his illustrious name.

Artwork Details

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Exhibition History

Title: Stele of Apa Shenoute
Date: 5th–6th century
Geography: Made in Egypt
Medium: Limestone
Dimensions: 20 7/8 x 12 3/16 in. (53 x 31 cm)
Classification: Sculpture
Credit Line: Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin—Skulpturensammlung und Museum für Byzantinische Kunst, Berlin (4475)
Curatorial Department: Medieval Art and The Cloisters