The Shabtis of the God’s Father, Yuya

This paper re-publishes the shabtis of Yuya, father of Queen Tiye and father-in-law of King Amenhotep III, which are kept at the Egyptian Museum Cairo (CG 51024–34, 51036) and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (MMA 30.8.56–30.8.58). The latter were excluded from the 1908 publication by J. E. Quibell which lacks adequate images, or even images altogether. 1 It also presents a ‘model’ of three shabtis to represent the entire set, 2 though it is challenging to find two identical shabti texts. 3 The aim of this paper is to study the state of preservation of these shabtis, as it has not been addressed since the discovery of the tomb (KV46) in 1905, 4 especially considering seven shabtis in the Egyptian Museum Cairo were looted on the ‘Friday of Anger’, on 28 January 2011. It presents a full transcription, translation and commentary on the entire set, highlighting the similarities and differentiation between the texts on the shabtis and whether they were made by a single artist or different sculptors. It also investigates the titles of the owner, his name and the facial features.

A Technical Study of a 17th-Century Manuscript of Muḥammad Bin Sulaymān al-Jazūlī’s Dalāʾil al-Khayrāt

In the spring of 2017, the Islamic Art Department, within The Metropolitan Museum of Art (TMMA), acquired an Islamic prayer book, the Dalāʾil al-Khayrāt by Muḥammad bin Sulaymān al-Jazūlī. This paper discusses the findings of a technical study undertaken in the museum’s Sherman Fairchild Center for the Conservation of Works of Art on Paper, focusing on the materials and techniques of one manuscript acquisition specifically, MMA 2017.301. The nature, properties, and characteristics of the text block paper, fiber and pigment identification, chemical compositions, condition assessment, and inherent deterioration mechanisms within the palette are described. The colophon at the end of the manuscript mentions a patron, Sīdī Aḥmad b. Dirham al-Mālikī and identifies its calligrapher as Muḥammad bin Aḥmad bin ʿAbd Al-Raḥmān al-Riyāḥī and confirms its creation date as AH 1035/1625–1626 AD.1

Theorizing Palimpsests

How do we connect the past with the present to address structural problems? While the pursuit of a cause-and-effect past flowing into the present contributes to the understanding of an event or object, how that past is recalled, represented, related, disconnected, suppressed, and/or obfuscated in any given present matters. This article proposes palimpsests as a critical tool for analyzing the many histories of the present. To illustrate this theoretical practice, the article offers a palimpsestic reading of a museumized object, the Nubian Temple of Dendur, now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The structural nature of a history of the present comes into view only when one is able to discern multiple histories, presents, categories, and objects layered together within the palimpsest of history.

European Tapestries

Tapestry, the most costly and coveted art form in Renaissance and Baroque Europe, has long fascinated scholars. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, researchers delved into archival sources and studied extant tapestries to produce sweeping introductions to the medium. The study of tapestry, however, fell outside mainstream art history, with tapestry too often seen as a less important “decorative art” rather than a “fine art.” , Also, tapestry did not fit easily into an art history that prioritized one master, as the making of a set of large-scale tapestries required a team of collaborators, including the designer, cartoon painters, and weavers, as well as a producer/entrepreneur and, often, a patron. Scholarship on European tapestries in the Early Modern period, nevertheless, flourished. By the late 20th century art historians turned attention to the “decorative arts” and tapestry specialists produced exciting new research illuminating aspects of design, production, and patronage, as well as tapestry’s crucial role in the larger narrative of art and cultural history. In 2002, the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s landmark exhibition and catalogue, Tapestry in the Renaissance: Art and Magnificence, spotlighted the art form, introduced it to a broad audience, and brought new understanding of tapestry as art. A sequel, the Met’s 2007 exhibition and catalogue, Tapestry in the Baroque: Threads of Splendor, followed. Other major museums presented ambitious exhibitions, accompanied by catalogues with substantial new research. In addition, from the late 20th century, institutions have produced complete catalogues of their extraordinary European tapestry holdings, among them: the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; the Patrimonio Nacional in Spain; the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam; the Art Institute of Chicago; and the Burrell Collection in Glasgow. At the same time, articles and books exploring specific designs, designers, producers, and patrons appeared, with some monographs published in the dedicated series, Studies in Western Tapestry, edited by leading scholars Guy Delmarcel and Koenraad Brosens, and produced by Brepols. Tapestry research has often focused on the works of well-known designers and their exceptionally innovative work, such as the artists Raphael (b. 1483–d. 1520) or Peter Paul Rubens (b. 1577–d. 1640). High-quality production at major centers, including Brussels or at the Gobelins Manufactory in France, has also captured scholars’ attention, as have important patrons, among them Henry VIII of England (b. 1491–d. 1547) or Louis XIV of France (b. 1638–d. 1715). Newer directions for research include the contributions of women as weavers and entrepreneurs, the practice of reweaving designs, and the international reach and appeal of Renaissance and Baroque tapestry beyond Europe.

Decreto per i discendenti dei gamoroi dall’area di Palazzolo Acreide Decree for the Descendants of the Gamoroi from the Area of Palazzolo Acreide

Decree engraved on a bronze tablet in a fragmentary state found in the area of Palazzolo Acreide and now preserved at the Metropolitan Museum. The text reports mention of a series of privileges (ateleia/isoteleia; enktesis) granted to an individual or a group by another polis (now lost) in which the group of gamoroi – known from the sources as landowners belonging to the Syracusan aristocracy – must have had a central role. The decree has been dated by most scholars between 491 and 485. However, from the palaeographic point of view, there are several elements that would allow us to date it to the end of the 6th century BC.

A silver cross-reliquary and its patroness in twelfth-century rural Asturias

La cruz-relicario de San Salvador de Fuentes es un suntuoso crucifijo hecho principalmente de madera y plata creado a finales del siglo XII para esta importante parroquia del concejo de Villaviciosa, en Asturias. El objeto es propiedad del Metropolitan Museum of Art de Nueva York desde 1917. El objetivo del presente trabajo es el de analizar el simbolismo iconográfico y los usos litúrgicos del crucifijo para luego contextualizar el patronazgo de la comitente del objeto, la noble local Sancha, y la creación de este relicario en la vida religiosa de la zona.

Computer Vision Tagging the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Collection

Computer vision algorithms are increasingly being applied to museum collections to identify patterns, colors, and subjects by generating tags for each object image. There are multiple off-the-shelf systems that offer an accessible and rapid way to undertake this process. Based on the highlights of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection, this article examines the similarities and differences between the tags generated by three well-known computer vision systems (Google Cloud Vision, Amazon Rekognition, and IBM Watson). The results provide insights into the characteristics of these taxonomies in terms of the volume of tags generated for each object, their diversity, typology, and accuracy. In consequence, this article discusses the need for museums to define their own subject tagging strategy and selection criteria of computer vision tools based on their type of collection and tags needed to complement their metadata.