In 711 an army of Arabs and Berbers from North Africa, united by their faith in Islam, crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and arrived on the Iberian Peninsula. In less than a decade the Muslims brought most of the peninsula under their domination; they called the Iberian lands they controlled al-Andalus. Although the borders of al-Andalus shifted over the centuries, the Muslims remained a powerful force on the peninsula for almost eight hundred years, until 1492, when they were expelled by Ferdinand and Isabella. This volume, which accompanies a major exhibition presented at the Alhambra in Granada and The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, is devoted to the little-known artistic legacy of Islamic Spain. From 711 to 1492 al-Andalus was the occidental frontier of Islam. Floating on the western edge of the Mediterranean, cut off from the European continent by jagged mountains, it was geographically isolated from both North Africa and Europe, from Islamic as well as Christian lands. Physical remoteness gave al-Andalus a privileged place in medieval myths but also separated it from the communities of the east and the west, so that it received only sporadic attention from both worlds. Although a small group of scholars pursued the serious study of the arts of Islamic Spain, these arts have for the most part been viewed as brilliant and exotic vestiges of a lost culture, as objects and monuments that left no mark on European tradition. A goal of this book, the first publication in over forty years to study the art and architecture of al-Andalus in depth, is to reveal the value of these arts as part of an autonomous culture and also as a presence with deep significance for both Europe and the Islamic world. Toward this end, twenty-four international scholars have contributed a wide-ranging series of essays and catalogue entries in which the art, architecture, and cultural climate of al-Andalus are approached from a broad variety of perspectives. A significant achievement of this volume, in fact, is that it brings together American and European scholars, two groups that until now have worked largely in isolation from each other. Most of the art and architecture that remains from Islamic Spain was produced for palatine settings and aristocratic patrons; representing, as these works do, almost eight centuries of history, they issue from diverse rules and traditions. The lavishly illustrated essays and catalogue entries present the full spectrum of the art of al-Andalus: intricately carved ivories, metalwork, and ceramics, luxurious textiles, jewelry, arms, marble capitals, stucco panels, and tiles, as well as major monuments of religious and secular architecture such as the Great Mosque of Córdoba, the palace city of Madinat al-Zahra, and the Alhambra. The texts unfold chronologically to trace the brilliant architecture and courtly arts of the Umayyad caliphate, the refined and original accomplishments of the succeeding Taifa kingdoms, the more rigorous contributions of the Almoravids and Almohads who followed, and, finally, the opulent palaces and objects created for the Nasrids of Granada, the last Muslim dynasty in Spain. The essays are broad and synthetic in nature, creating cultural and artistic contexts for the objects that are discussed in detail in the 136 catalogue entries. Some authors interpret the relationship between patrons and works of art; others illuminate the architectural surroundings in which the objects existed as well as the meanings inherent in the pieces themselves. Still others trace developments within specific mediums, integrating recent technological and historical studies that view the function and meaning of crafts in their social and cultural contexts. An entire section of essays is devoted to the Alhambra of Granada, the crowning architectural achievement of the Nasrids. Every entry is illustrated in color. Notes, literature, an extensive bibliography, a chronology, a glossary, architectural plans, maps showing the extent of al-Andalus at various stages in its history, and an index are provided. Thus, the volume addresses a general as well as a specialized audience and serves both as an introduction to the visual world of a nearly vanished culture and as a point of departure for future scholarly study.

A conversation with curator Mia Fineman about the exhibition catalogue for Apollo's Muse: The Moon in the Age of Photography.

Spanish art of the Middle Ages, a period that has been relatively unexplored in the English-speaking world, is examined here in detail. This publication accompanies a major exhibition for which more than 150 sculptures, architectural elements, paintings, textiles, and objects for everyday and ceremonial use have been gathered from museums and private collections in Spain, the United States, and Europe and Africa. Each work is illustrated (most in full color) and is discussed in texts that will be of interest to both the general reader and the scholar. The volume opens with three essays by leading scholars that traverse the eventful world of medieval Spain, presenting themes that will prove important throughout the centuries from 500 to 1200. The immense influence of topography on Iberian history is limned, and the ongoing impact of Christianity and Islam on the peninsula is discussed in vivid terms. Of great interest is the survey of Spains cultural ties to Europe and to the Middle East. This wide-ranging introduction is followed by four sections: Visigothic Spain, Islamic Spain, the Kingdom of Asturias and Mozarabic Spain, and Romanesque Spain. Each opens with one or more distinguished essays, richly illustrated with photographs of architecture and works of art. About A.D. 500 the Visigoths made their way into the Iberian Peninsula and supplanted the existing Roman polity. Their metalwork and sculpture give a sense of the dislocations of this transitional period. Just some two centuries later the Visigoths were themselves displaced by Muslims who moved from North Africa. The presence of Islam in the Iberian Peninsula has been examined in depth in Al-Andalus, the counterpart to the present exhibition which was presented in 1992 by the Metropolitan Museum. Here the ascendancy of Islam is documented through remarkable sculpture, ivories, ceramics, textiles, and metalwork. Despite centuries of conflict and turmoil, the inhabitants of Spain—be they Christian or Muslim—left a splendid legacy of artworks. Perceptive essays examine the Christian kingdoms of the north and the extraordinary manuscripts produced by the monasteries established in the frontier territories between the Christian North and the Islamic states of al-Andalus. Included are numerous examples of manuscripts of great beauty and importance. The final section of the catalogue presents the flowering of the Romanesque in Spain. Special attention is given to the art of the Camino de Santiago, the great pilgrimage road, and to the magnificent architecture and wall paintings of Catalonia. Throughout this publication the reader becomes aware not only of the clash between cultures but also of the less evident intercourse between widely different traditions. Both profound differences and shared artistic forms are brought to the fore. This volume is an essential introduction to an art that repays long study. It signals a new era in English-language studies of the still unfamiliar world of medieval Spain.

Armor made from steel plates that covered almost the entire body was developed around the late fourteenth century in Northern Italy, and spread north of the Alps soon after. Most early examples were plain, but by the middle of the fifteenth century armorers began to emboss surfaces with ridges and grooves and add gilt copper-alloy applications, transferring current tastes in civilian fashion to create sumptuous garments of steel. 

This illustrated essay describes the evolution of the display of Islamic art at the Met—from the first largely visual exhibitions to the present scholarly organization by style, material, and civilization.

The first major retrospective devoted to the virtuoso Netherlandish mannerist Hendrick Goltzius – one of the most versatile and accomplished figures in the history of art – will open at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on June 26, 2003. Hendrick Goltzius, Dutch Master (1558-1617): Drawings, Prints, and Paintings, an international loan exhibition of more than 160 works, spans the artist's entire career and demonstrates his legendary mastery of a remarkably wide range of media, subject matter, and styles – from extravagantly complex mythological scenes in prints, to sensitively observed studies from nature, to sumptuously colored oil paintings on canvas and copper. The exhibition remains on view at the Metropolitan through September 7, 2003.