George Manginis
BENAKI MUSEUM, Benaki Museum, Department Member
- The Courtauld Institute of Art, History of Art, Department MemberNew College of the Humanities, Art History, Department Member, and 2 moreadd
- Chinese Art, Early and Medieval Islamic Art and Architecture, History of Collecting, Museum Studies, Byzantine Archaeology, History of Art and archaeology, and 14 moreOttoman art and architecture, Ottoman Archaeology, History of Ottoman Art and Architecture, Ottoman Heritage Art and Architecture, Early Ottoman architecture, Art collectors and connoisseurs, History of Collections, Collectors and Collecting, Byzantine art, Byzantine Architecture, Byzantine history and archaeology, Armenian Art, Armenian Culture, and Ottoman Armeniansedit
- George is the Academic Director of the Benaki Museum in Athens. Since 2001 he has been teaching Theory of Art History... moreGeorge is the Academic Director of the Benaki Museum in Athens. Since 2001 he has been teaching Theory of Art History and Archaeology, History of Islamic and Byzantine Art and Architecture and History of Chinese Ceramics for SOAS and the Courtauld Institute of Art (University of London), the Victoria & Albert Museum, the British Museum, the Benaki Museum – Athens, the Museum of Islamic Art – Qatar, the Institute of Ismaili Studies – London, the New College of the Humanities – London, et al. In 2013 he was a ‘Stanley J. Seeger Fellow’ at Princeton University, cataloguing the Chinese collection of the Benaki Museum, where he curated the exhibition 'Ceramics from China' (June-September 2016). He also curated the Treasury of the Greek Cathedral of Saint Sophia – London and has excavated in Greece, Cyprus, France and Egypt. He studied archaeology at the University of Athens and completed his PhD on the archaeology of Mount Sinai (Jabal Mūsā) at SOAS.
Οrcid.org number 0000-0002-6554-8048edit
In May 1936 eleven small objects that had arrived a few days earlier at the port of Piraeus aboard the ‘Sorrento’ were added to the Benaki Museum inventory book with the numbers 2411 to 2420 and 2910. They were part of a donation of 452... more
In May 1936 eleven small objects that had arrived a few days earlier at the port of Piraeus aboard the ‘Sorrento’ were added to the Benaki Museum inventory book with the numbers 2411 to 2420 and 2910. They were part of a donation of 452 ceramics, mostly Chinese, from the collection of George Eumorfopoulos (1863–1939), a British collector of Greek origin. Back in 1929, Eumorfopoulos, the most celebrated East Asian art collector of his generation, had offered 341 ceramics to the Greek nation and two years later these were included in the founding collection of the museum that Antonis Benakis (1873–1954) created in memory of his parents. The eleven ceramics of the 1936 donation, dated to between the eleventh and eighteenth centuries, were of Korean manufacture; they had already been published in 1928 in the lavish Eumorfopoulos Collection catalogue. This book examines these eleven ceramics as works of Goryeo and Joseon art but also as collector's items in the 20th century and as museum objects in the 21st century.
https://www.benakishop.gr/en/new-arrivals/keramiki-apo-tin-korea-sto-mouseio-mpenaki-sullogi-georgiou-eumorfopoulou-ceramics-from-korea-at-the-benaki-museum-the-george-eumorfopoulos-collection-bmm471.html
A book published on the occasion of the ‘Ceramics from Korea’ exhibition at the Benaki Museum / Pireos 138 in autumn 2021 (23 September – 7 November), celebrating 60 years of friendship between Korea and Greece (1961–2021).
https://www.benakishop.gr/en/new-arrivals/keramiki-apo-tin-korea-sto-mouseio-mpenaki-sullogi-georgiou-eumorfopoulou-ceramics-from-korea-at-the-benaki-museum-the-george-eumorfopoulos-collection-bmm471.html
A book published on the occasion of the ‘Ceramics from Korea’ exhibition at the Benaki Museum / Pireos 138 in autumn 2021 (23 September – 7 November), celebrating 60 years of friendship between Korea and Greece (1961–2021).
Research Interests: History of Collections, Collecting and Collections, Museum Collection history, Korean Art, History of Collections (Archaeology), and 11 moreHistory of Collecting, Art collectors and connoisseurs, Private Collections in Public Museums, History of Collecting and Antiquarianism, Collecting, Museum Collections (Research), Goryeo, History of Korean Ceramics, Korean Ceramics, Goryeo Celadon, and Joseon Dynasty, Korea
The Benaki Museum was founded by Antonis Benakis, a visionary collector and cosmopolitan Greek patriot born and raised in Alexandria, Egypt. Since opening to the public in April 1931, the museum has grown into one of the most innovative... more
The Benaki Museum was founded by Antonis Benakis, a visionary collector and cosmopolitan Greek patriot born and raised in Alexandria, Egypt. Since opening to the public in April 1931, the museum has grown into one of the most innovative cultural organisations in Europe, and today includes several branches: a museum dedicated to Greek culture from prehistory to the 1940s; a gallery on modernism in Greece; a museum of Islamic art; a twentieth-century sculptor’s studio; a collector’s home; a museum of toys from around the world; a celebrated writer’s seaside retreat; a passementerie factory; and an exhibitions centre. Across this network of venues all over Athens – and beyond – diverse cultures from all historical periods meet contemporary art movements, enabling ‘the Benaki’ to situate the Greek world within a global context.
https://scalapublishers.com/benaki-museum/
Highlights
- One of the most innovative cultural organisations in Europe, with venues all over Athens, and beyond.
- Contains 39 treasures selected and described by the Museum's academic director George Manginis.
- The first Greek institution in the Director’s Choice series.
https://scalapublishers.com/benaki-museum/
Highlights
- One of the most innovative cultural organisations in Europe, with venues all over Athens, and beyond.
- Contains 39 treasures selected and described by the Museum's academic director George Manginis.
- The first Greek institution in the Director’s Choice series.
Research Interests: Mythology And Folklore, Folklore, Photography, Museum Studies, Islamic Art, and 12 moreByzantine Studies, History of Toys and Play, Modern Greece, Greek Archaeology, Modern Greek Studies, Museum and Heritage Studies, Byzantine art, Islamic art and architecture, Nobel Prize, Islamic art and archaeology, Museum Studies and Cultural management, and Nobel Prize in Literature
In May 1936 the steamship Sorrento sailed into the port of Piraeus, Greece. Aboard were sixteen crates with 452 items of Chinese pottery, destined to join another 341 already on display at the Benaki Museum in Athens. Over the past nine... more
In May 1936 the steamship Sorrento sailed into the port of Piraeus, Greece. Aboard were sixteen crates with 452 items of Chinese pottery, destined to join another 341 already on display at the Benaki Museum in Athens. Over the past nine years the museum’s founder, Antonis Benakis, had been in contact with their donor, Greek-origin British businessman George Eumorfopoulos. His Chinese art collection was one of the most extensive the world had ever seen. In bestowing this gift, Eumorfopoulos wanted to introduce Greeks to the art of China through its best-known medium at the time, ceramics.
The years after the collapse of the Qing dynasty in 1911 witnessed an ‘opening up’ of China and the first archaeological excavations of its ancient cultures. A circle of enthusiasts and scholars, among which Eumorfopoulos was pivotal, grasped the opportunity to evaluate anew long-held preconceptions on Chinese civilisation. Situated in London, a centre of imperialist power and global finance, they acquired, assessed, and interpreted previously-unseen and fascinating objects. In addition, Eumorfopoulos acted as an intermediary between the contemporary art scene and Chinese antiquities, inspiring modern artists and ‘studio potters’.
China Rediscovered: The Benaki Museum Collection of Chinese Ceramics traces the roles ceramics assumed in this cultural interplay within the context of earlier encounters between China and the rest of the world. A selection of 88 items from the Benaki Museum are perceived as ‘actors’ within constantly evolving ‘sets’, as players in a game of knowledge, taste, and power.
https://www.benakishop.gr/en/books/world-cultures/china-rediscovered-the-benaki-museum-collection-of-chinese-ceramics-387.html
https://www.hauspublishing.com/product/china-rediscovered/
The years after the collapse of the Qing dynasty in 1911 witnessed an ‘opening up’ of China and the first archaeological excavations of its ancient cultures. A circle of enthusiasts and scholars, among which Eumorfopoulos was pivotal, grasped the opportunity to evaluate anew long-held preconceptions on Chinese civilisation. Situated in London, a centre of imperialist power and global finance, they acquired, assessed, and interpreted previously-unseen and fascinating objects. In addition, Eumorfopoulos acted as an intermediary between the contemporary art scene and Chinese antiquities, inspiring modern artists and ‘studio potters’.
China Rediscovered: The Benaki Museum Collection of Chinese Ceramics traces the roles ceramics assumed in this cultural interplay within the context of earlier encounters between China and the rest of the world. A selection of 88 items from the Benaki Museum are perceived as ‘actors’ within constantly evolving ‘sets’, as players in a game of knowledge, taste, and power.
https://www.benakishop.gr/en/books/world-cultures/china-rediscovered-the-benaki-museum-collection-of-chinese-ceramics-387.html
https://www.hauspublishing.com/product/china-rediscovered/
Research Interests: Chinese Studies, Chinese Art, Chinese Language and Culture, Modern Greek History, History of Collections, and 33 moreCollecting (Art), Collecting and Collections, Chinese archaeology, Collecting and Display, History of Collecting, Modern Greek Studies, Patronage and collecting, material culture, silk road, Islamic and Chinese ceramics, Collectors and Collecting, History of Collecting and Antiquarianism, Chinese and Southeast Asian Art History and Archaeology, Collecting, Chinese Pottery, Chinese art history, The Art and Culture of Anchient Chinese Porcelain, Chinese Porcelain in Foreign Countries, Chinese Ceramics, Art Collecting, Chinese Porcelain, Collecting and Collections History of Collecting, Arab inscriptions on Chinese porcelain, History of Art Collecting 19th/20th Century, Chinese Antique Porcelain, Chinese Art and Culture - Ming and Qing - France / China Trade XVIIe-XVIIIe - Landscape Painting - Porcelain - History of French Collections, Museums and Collecting Practices, Chinese Ceramics Shipwrecks, History of Chinese Ceramics, Chinese export porcelain, Chinese export porcelain teapots, Mistakes on Chinese export porcelain, Silver decoration on Chinese export porcelain, History of Chinese and Japanese Ceramics, and Consumption of Chinese porcelain
Mount Sinai: A History of Travellers and Pilgrims examines the history of Hagia Koryphē (in Greek) or Jabal Mūsā (in Arabic), a mountain peak above the Monastery of St Catherine at South Sinai in Egypt, known for centuries as the place... more
Mount Sinai: A History of Travellers and Pilgrims examines the history of Hagia Koryphē (in Greek) or Jabal Mūsā (in Arabic), a mountain peak above the Monastery of St Catherine at South Sinai in Egypt, known for centuries as the place where Moses received the Ten Commandments from God, as described in Exodus. The book explores the ways in which the landscape of the summit was experienced and transformed using textual criticism, historical analysis, art history, and, for the first time, archaeological interpretation. Beginning in the third century, when the identification with the biblical ‘Mount Sinai’ was established, the narrative extends through to the early twentieth century. Covering the natural environment, the Bedouin and early Christians, the importance of Mount Sinai in Muslim tradition, the cult of St Catherine, pilgrimage, as well as the scholarly, artistic and tourist phenomenon of the nineteenth century, Mount Sinai: A History of Travellers and Pilgrims is a comprehensive and complete history of this remarkable place.
https://www.hauspublishing.com/product/mount-sinai/
‘Lucid and original; a veritable feast of interesting stories about Mount Sinai’s extraordinary past.’ - Peter Frankopan, author of The Silk Roads
‘As a traveller and pilgrim to Sinai on numerous occasions and now a Trustee of the St Catherine's Foundation, I greatly enjoyed George Manginis's Mount Sinai and learnt much from it…The book is a learned and delightful companion to God-trodden Sinai.’ - Richard Chartres, Bishop of London
‘This book is an absolute mine of riches, reflection, and information… would strongly encourage anyone to pay a visit to this remarkable place of history, holiness and tradition. I recommend this book highly.’ - Vincent Nichols, Cardinal of Westminster
‘This book gives an invaluable insight into the evolution over two millennia of Mount Sinai as a sacred site and a place of spiritual quest.’ - H.R.H. Prince El Hassan bin Talal of Jordan
‘George Manginis has trawled archives and published accounts to create the biography of the mountain, telling the story of the devout, the scholars and the tourists who have helped shape its history. His book is likely to stand as the last word on one of the world's most enduring places, unless an angel appears to tell the divine side of the story.’ - Anthony Sattin, author of Young Lawrence
https://www.hauspublishing.com/product/mount-sinai/
‘Lucid and original; a veritable feast of interesting stories about Mount Sinai’s extraordinary past.’ - Peter Frankopan, author of The Silk Roads
‘As a traveller and pilgrim to Sinai on numerous occasions and now a Trustee of the St Catherine's Foundation, I greatly enjoyed George Manginis's Mount Sinai and learnt much from it…The book is a learned and delightful companion to God-trodden Sinai.’ - Richard Chartres, Bishop of London
‘This book is an absolute mine of riches, reflection, and information… would strongly encourage anyone to pay a visit to this remarkable place of history, holiness and tradition. I recommend this book highly.’ - Vincent Nichols, Cardinal of Westminster
‘This book gives an invaluable insight into the evolution over two millennia of Mount Sinai as a sacred site and a place of spiritual quest.’ - H.R.H. Prince El Hassan bin Talal of Jordan
‘George Manginis has trawled archives and published accounts to create the biography of the mountain, telling the story of the devout, the scholars and the tourists who have helped shape its history. His book is likely to stand as the last word on one of the world's most enduring places, unless an angel appears to tell the divine side of the story.’ - Anthony Sattin, author of Young Lawrence
Research Interests: Ottoman History, Anthropology of Pilgrimage, Pilgrimage, Early Christianity, Mamluk Studies, and 58 morePilgrimage Routes, Ottoman Studies, Byzantine Studies, Ottoman Empire, Egypt, Early modern Ottoman History, Mamluk History, Early Islam, Late Ottoman Period, Fatimids, Early Christian Art, Early Islamic Archaeology, Early Islamic Art, Mamluks (Islamic History), Early and Medieval Islamic Art and Architecture, Economic and Social History of the Ottoman Empire, Pilgrimage and Art, Pilgrimage and travel to the Holy Land, Early Islamic History, Early Christian Architecture, Late Ottoman History, Pagan/Christian Relations in the Early Middle Ages, Pilgrimages, Early Christian Archaeology, Pilgrimage and Tourism, Sinai, Fatimid Studies, Early Christianity, Late Antiquity, Fatimid Egypt, Archaeology of pilgrimage, Medieval Pilgrim Signs and Ampullae, Intellectual history of early Islam, Shiia, esp. Ismailis, Medieval Art, Pilgrimage, Reliquaries, Pilgrimage Archaeology, Christian pilgrimage shrines, Medieval pilgrimage, Mamluk pottery, Sinai Bedouin Ethnoarchaeology Identity Vlah Aromani, Sinai Bedouin Ethnoarchaeology Identity Justinian StCatherines Byzantium Vlah Aromani, Mamluk Archaeology, Pilgrims, Pilgrimage History, Armenian pilgrims in the West, Byzantine, Crusader, and Mamluk Eras in Palestine, St.Catherine's Monastery (Sinai), History of Pilgrimages to the Holy Land and the Relationship Between Monks and Pilgrims and Xenodochia or Hostels, Intellctual and social history of the Mamluk Period, Pilgrim badges, Egypt, Sinai, Bedouin, Hajj Pilgrims, Pilgrimage Architecture, Mount Sinai, Icons and Rituals: Sacred Biography, Pilgrimage and Sacred Spaces, History of Pilgrimages In the Middle Age, Archaeology of the Negev and Sinai, Codex Sinaiticus, Christian Sinai, and Proto-sinaitic Inscriptions
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A taste for Chinese design was manifested in Iranian objects commissioned by Armenian traders in seventeenth-century Isfahan. A century later, their scions dispersed along trade routes and many settled in India. Between the late... more
A taste for Chinese design was manifested in Iranian objects commissioned by Armenian traders in seventeenth-century Isfahan. A century later, their scions dispersed along trade routes and many settled in India. Between the late eighteenth and mid-nineteenth century these Indian Armenians placed orders for ‘Chinese export wares’ featuring signs of their Armenian ethnicity. Living within European cultural horizons, they adapted to western modes and sometimes used Latin monograms. Dignitaries of the Armenian millet under the Ottoman sultan also indulged in Chinese luxuries, which reflect the destinies of Armenian communities both in their Caucasian homeland and in diaspora.
Research Interests: Armenian Studies, Islam in China, Chinese Art, Armenian History, Armenian Culture, and 11 moreArmenia, Ottoman Armenians, Chinese art history, The Art and Culture of Anchient Chinese Porcelain, Chinese Porcelain in Foreign Countries, Armenian medieval art, Chinese Porcelain, Chinese Antique Porcelain, Chinese Art and Culture - Ming and Qing - France / China Trade XVIIe-XVIIIe - Landscape Painting - Porcelain - History of French Collections, Chinese export porcelain, and Chinese export porcelain teapots
Research Interests: Chinese Studies, Chinese Art, Chinese Language and Culture, China, Modern Chinese History, and 21 moreBritish art, China studies, Collecting (Art), Collecting and Collections, Chinese archaeology, Contemporary China, Chinese history (History), Late Imperial-Modern China, Collecting and Display, History of Collecting, Patronage and collecting, 20th Century British Art, Collectors and Collecting, History of Collecting and Antiquarianism, Collecting, History of antiquities collecting, Art Collecting, Collecting and Collections History of Collecting, History of Art Collecting 19th/20th Century, Barbara Hepworth, and Museums and Collecting Practices
Research Interests: Chinese Studies, Chinese Art, Chinese Language and Culture, China, British art, and 32 moreChina studies, Collecting (Art), Collecting and Collections, Early China, Late Imperial-Modern China, Collecting and Display, History of Collecting, Patronage and collecting, material culture, silk road, Islamic and Chinese ceramics, 20th Century British Art, Collectors and Collecting, History of Collecting and Antiquarianism, Collecting, The Rise of China, Chinese art history, The Art and Culture of Anchient Chinese Porcelain, Chinese Porcelain in Foreign Countries, Chinese Ceramics, History of antiquities collecting, Art Collecting, Chinese Porcelain, Collecting and Collections History of Collecting, Collectors, Collections and Museums: The Field of Chinese Ceramics in Britain, 1560-1960, History of Art Collecting 19th/20th Century, Barbara Hepworth, Studio Pottery, Chinese Antique Porcelain, Chinese Art and Culture - Ming and Qing - France / China Trade XVIIe-XVIIIe - Landscape Painting - Porcelain - History of French Collections, Museums and Collecting Practices, History of Chinese Ceramics, Chinese export porcelain, and History of Chinese and Japanese Ceramics
Research Interests: Armenian Studies, Chinese Studies, Iranian Studies, History of Iran, Chinese Art, and 23 moreChinese Language and Culture, China, Armenian Culture, Iranian History, China studies, Modern Armenian History, Chinese history (History), Armenia, Porcelain, Armenian Art, Chines Porcelain, Chinese art history, The Art and Culture of Anchient Chinese Porcelain, Chinese Porcelain in Foreign Countries, Chinese Ceramics, Chinese Porcelain, History of Chinese Art - History of Chinese export Silver Within the Context of 1200 Years of Chinese Silvermaking, Armenian art history, Chinese Art and Culture - Ming and Qing - France / China Trade XVIIe-XVIIIe - Landscape Painting - Porcelain - History of French Collections, Asian Export Art, Chinese export porcelain, Chinese export porcelain teapots, and Mistakes on Chinese export porcelain
Research Interests: Armenian Studies, Iranian Studies, Chinese Art, China, Iranian Art History, and 12 moreArmenian History, Armenian Culture, Modern Armenian History, Armenia, Porcelain, Armenian Art, Ottoman Armenians, Chinese art history, Chinese Porcelain in Foreign Countries, Chinese export porcelain, Mistakes on Chinese export porcelain, and Chinese export porcelain fakes and forgeries
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Research Interests: Chinese Studies, Chinese Art, China, Collecting (Art), Collecting and Collections, and 10 moreCollecting and Display, History of Collecting, Patronage and collecting, Collectors and Collecting, History of Collecting and Antiquarianism, Collecting, Chinese art history, Art Collecting, Collecting and Collections History of Collecting, and History of Art Collecting 19th/20th Century
Research Interests: Chinese Studies, Chinese Buddhism, Tang Dynasty, Chinese Art, Song Dynasty, and 19 moreMing Dynasty, Qing Dynasty (Ch'ing Dynasty), Collecting and Collections, Chinese archaeology, Art Song, China Tang~Song Dynasties, Early Chinese History, Han Dynasty, Chinese Pottery, Ming-Qing History, Qing Dynasty, Chinese Ceramics, Western Han dynasty, China, Chinese History /Han Dynasty/Archaeology, Qing Court Art, China Neolithic, Ming and Qing China, Eastern Han Dynasty, and Chinese Neolithic Archaeology
Research Interests: Travel Literature, Early Modern Travellers, European travellers and their depictions of the ancient and Islamic history of the Near East, Literatures of Voyaging, Discovery, Travel & Colonialism, Modern travellers, and 2 moreOttoman geography, travel literature and cartography and Early Modern Travel Literature
This article revisits one of the lesser-known works of Islamic art preserved within the walls of the Justinianic fortress, later the Monastery of Saint Catherine, at the foot of Jabal Mūsā (Mount Sinai) in Egypt. It is a small wooden... more
This article revisits one of the lesser-known works of Islamic art preserved within the walls of the Justinianic fortress, later the Monastery of Saint Catherine, at the foot of Jabal Mūsā (Mount Sinai) in Egypt. It is a small wooden piece of furniture emblazoned with a bold inscription identifying it as a ‘kursī,’ a name associated with furniture destined for a multitude of different uses. The particular use of the Sinai kursī as a stand for a Qur΄ān volume is ascertained and its widely-held dating to the early 12th century is revised in the light of historical evidence. Furthermore, the inscription helps elucidate the importance Sinai’s biblical landscape held for the Muslim population of the Near East during the early centuries of the Islamic era.
Research Interests: Anthropology of Pilgrimage, Pilgrimage, Pilgrimage Routes, Islamic Art, Early Islam, and 27 moreFatimids, Early Islamic Archaeology, Early Islamic Art, Early and Medieval Islamic Art and Architecture, Pilgrimage and Art, Pilgrimage and travel to the Holy Land, Early Islamic History, Sinai, Fatimid Egypt, Archaeology of pilgrimage, Intellectual history of early Islam, Shiia, esp. Ismailis, Medieval Art, Pilgrimage, Reliquaries, Christian pilgrimage shrines, Islamic art and architecture, Islamic art and archaeology, Medieval pilgrimage, St.Catherine's Monastery (Sinai), History of Pilgrimages to the Holy Land and the Relationship Between Monks and Pilgrims and Xenodochia or Hostels, Early Islamic Egypt, Fatimid Art and Architecture, Fatimid art, Hajj Pilgrims, Icons and Rituals: Sacred Biography, Pilgrimage and Sacred Spaces, Archaeology of the Negev and Sinai, Christian Sinai, Pilgrimages As Vehicles for Technical and Cultural Interchange, and Ziyara
This article uses a variety of theoretical approaches on literary criticism, biblical scholarship, orientalist studies and gender studies to explore a chapter in the story of Jabal Mūsā, a desert site traditionally associated with the... more
This article uses a variety of theoretical approaches on literary criticism, biblical scholarship, orientalist studies and gender studies to explore a chapter in the story of Jabal Mūsā, a desert site traditionally associated with the biblical Mount Sinai. In 1822 Burckhardt’s Travels in Syria and the Holy Land was published. It was the first book to question the biblical identification on the basis of archaeology and topography. Hundreds of essays followed, arguing for or against contestants for the ‘Mount of the Law.’ The controvercy largely conformed to the religious, cultural and gender diversity of the body of authors. Accounts by Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christian visitors as well as by female travellers, irrespective of religious persuasion, did not share the critical tone of male Protestants. The latter’s attitude was founded on their certainty of the literal truth of the Bible, their rejection of ecclesiastical tradition and their anti-monastic feelings. During the period in question, Jabal Mūsā was measured, described, sketched and photographed but also questioned and dismissed, a tradition followed by scholars seeking alternative ‘Mount Sinais’ in the peninsula, Negev or Arabia to this day.
Research Interests: Anthropology of Pilgrimage, Pilgrimage, Pilgrimage Routes, Protestantism, Catholic and Protestant Missionaries in the Ottoman Empire, and 25 morePilgrimage and Art, Pilgrimage and travel to the Holy Land, Pilgrimages, Pilgrimage and Tourism, Protestant & Islamic Work Ethic, Sinai, Archaeology of pilgrimage, Medieval Art, Pilgrimage, Reliquaries, Pilgrimage Archaeology, Christian pilgrimage shrines, Medieval pilgrimage, Sinai Bedouin Ethnoarchaeology Identity Vlah Aromani, Sinai Bedouin Ethnoarchaeology Identity Justinian StCatherines Byzantium Vlah Aromani, Pilgrimage History, St.Catherine's Monastery (Sinai), History of Pilgrimages to the Holy Land and the Relationship Between Monks and Pilgrims and Xenodochia or Hostels, Pilgrimage Tourism, Media and Cultural Studies / Cultural Theory / Representation of the Political Violence / Political pilgrimage and Political Pilgrimage Cinema / Propaganda and Violence / Visual Anthropology / Cuban Culture., Egypt, Sinai, Bedouin, Mount Sinai, Icons and Rituals: Sacred Biography, Pilgrimage and Sacred Spaces, Archaeology of the Negev and Sinai, Christian Sinai, Protestant Roman Catholic Orthodox DialogueChristian Apologetics, and Late Medieval Pilgrimage
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The scientific editing of this volume was undertaken by the Center of Excellence entitled "Utilization of Orthodox Heritage and Interreligious Dialogue" of the National and Kapodistrian University (NKUA) of Athens, in the framework of the... more
The scientific editing of this volume was undertaken by the Center of Excellence entitled "Utilization of Orthodox Heritage and Interreligious Dialogue" of the National and Kapodistrian University (NKUA) of Athens, in the framework of the collaboration provided in the relevant Memorandum of Understanding. Mrs. Ioanna Stoufi-Poulimenou, Professor of Christian Archaeology and Art, Department of Theology, NKUA has been appointed to be scientific responsible for the publication. The churches dedicated to the Wisdom of God included in the volume are to be the landmarks of the "European Route of the Monuments of the Wisdom of God (Hagia Sophia)". The application will be submitted in the form of a comprehensive joint proposal of the Center of Excellence and the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy (I.A.O.) with the aim of recognizing it as a Cultural Route of the Council of Europe.
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Between the mid-19th century and the outbreak of World War I, a few London buildings wholly or partly copied works of Byzantine architecture. They represent a minority within the stylistic polyphony of Victorian architecture, dominated by... more
Between the mid-19th century and the outbreak of World War I, a few London buildings wholly or partly copied works of Byzantine architecture. They represent a minority within the stylistic polyphony of Victorian architecture, dominated by neoclassicism and ‘Gothic Revival.› Neo-Byzantine style was reflected either on the decorative details of façades or in the plans and roofing systems. During the 1850s and 1860s, its use was reserved for secular buildings and reference was made primarily to San Marco in Venice. It was first used for church buildings by Dissenters and Primitive Methodists. The Greek Orthodox church of Saint Sophia (1877–1879) as well as the Roman Catholic Westminster Cathedral (1895–1903) moved closer to Constantinopolitan Byzantine style, taking Hagia Sophia as a standard. The neo-Byzantine style was only adopted for a church building by the Anglican majority in 1902, fifty years after it first appeared in the streets of London.
Research Interests: Nineteenth Century Studies, Historicism, Nineteenth-century Art, Byzantine Studies, Nineteenth Century British History and Culture, and 14 moreByzantine Architecture, Diaspora Studies, Victorian Art, Nineteenth-century National Exhibitions, Greek Diaspora, A.W.N. Pugin, Victorian architecture, Anglo-Catholicism, Byzantine art, Greek Orthodoxy, Revivalism and historicism in architecture, particularly medievalism, Historicism in Architecture, Neo-Byzantine Art, and Anglo-Greek Diaspora
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The ebonised-wood, alabaster and gilt-bronze cabinet-on-stand (German: Kabinettschrank) on which this article focuses was donated to the Benaki Museum of Greek Culture (inventory number 23751) by the Greek benefactor Eleni Stathatos... more
The ebonised-wood, alabaster and gilt-bronze cabinet-on-stand (German: Kabinettschrank) on which this article focuses was donated to the Benaki Museum of Greek Culture (inventory number 23751) by the Greek benefactor Eleni Stathatos (1887-1982). The outer faces of its doors feature allegorical figures of four of the virtues: Patience, Faith, Fortitude, and Prudence. At the centre of its inside, a central plaque features Orpheus charming with his lyre animals both existing and imaginary, depicted on separate plaques arranged over drawer fronts and other surfaces of the cabinet (elephant, bears, dog, lion, boar, dragon, unicorn, bull, fox, feline, hare, turkey, cockerel, stork, and peacock). On the inner faces of the doors Narcissus appears on the left and the Rape of Europe by Zeus transformed to a bull on the right. All three of these stories from Greek mythology are included in the Roman poet Ovid’s Metamorphoses and their iconographic sources are prints by artists working in Italy, France, Germany and the Low Countries: Bernard Salomon (1506-1561), Virgil Solis (1514-1562), Gerard van Groeningen (1550-1599), Antonio Tempesta (1555-1630), Hendrik Goltzius (1558-1617), Adriaen Collaert (1560-1618), Crispijn van de Passe (circa 1564-1637) and Frans Snijders (1579-1657). The combination of virtues on the outside with mythological stories of godly and human passions on the inside injects this cabinet with iconographic vigour and aligns it with questions dominating European thinking at the time of its making, which can be placed, based on its iconography, materials and construction, around the first half of the 17th century. Its place of manufacture must have been Augsburg in Bavaria, an important centre of luxury cabinet production for royal and aristocratic clients by celebrated craftspeople like Boas Ulrich (1550-1623/4), Matthias Walbaum (1554-1632) and Melchior Baumgartner (1621-1689). The similarities between the allegorical figures of the Benaki Museum cabinet and figures in works by Walbaum in Berlin, Vienna and Augsburg museums further supports the suggested origin and date of the cabinet.
Research Interests: Furniture Design, Baroque Art and Literature, Intellectual History of the Baroque Period, Baroque art and architecture, Furniture design (Art History), and 12 moreFurniture Design (Architecture), Cabinets of Curiosities, Furniture, Furniture History, Silversmithing, Wonder Cabinet, Cabinetmakers, Augsburg, 16th and 17th-century German Art, Furniture and Cabinet Making, Benaki Museum, and Cabinets of Curiosity
In this episode of the Benaki Museum CLOSE UPS video series, George Manginis, Academic Director of the Benaki Museum, presents an Augsburg Cabinet, situated at the Benaki Museum of Greek Culture. It was created in the first half of the... more
In this episode of the Benaki Museum CLOSE UPS video series, George Manginis, Academic Director of the Benaki Museum, presents an Augsburg Cabinet, situated at the Benaki Museum of Greek Culture. It was created in the first half of the 17th century, at a time when Baroque was the dominant cultural movement in Europe.
The CLOSE UPS video series highlights fascinating stories behind objects at the Benaki Museum, as well as the people associated with them. In the videos of the series, hosted by the academic director and curators of the Museum, objects at the Benaki Museum of Greek Culture take centre stage. It is an initiative deriving from our strong wish to remain close to the public during the museum lockdown due to the pandemic, until we meet again at the Benaki Museum!
The CLOSE UPS video series highlights fascinating stories behind objects at the Benaki Museum, as well as the people associated with them. In the videos of the series, hosted by the academic director and curators of the Museum, objects at the Benaki Museum of Greek Culture take centre stage. It is an initiative deriving from our strong wish to remain close to the public during the museum lockdown due to the pandemic, until we meet again at the Benaki Museum!
Research Interests: Baroque Art and Literature, Intellectual History of the Baroque Period, Decorative Arts, Baroque art and architecture, Ovid (Classics), and 8 moreBavarian History, Cabinets of Curiosities, Ovid Metamorphoses, Baroque Sculpture, 17th and 18th century European Decorative Arts and Design, Augsburg, 16th and 17th-century German Art, and Reception of Ovid
Σε ένα πλατύσκαλο του Μουσείου Μπενάκη Ελληνικού Πολιτισμού στέκει ένα ερμάριο με βάση από ξύλο με χρωματισμό εβένου και διακοσμήσεις από αλάβαστρο και επίχρυσο μπρούντζο που αποτελεί δωρεά της Ελένης Σταθάτου. Στο εξωτερικό των... more
Σε ένα πλατύσκαλο του Μουσείου Μπενάκη Ελληνικού Πολιτισμού στέκει ένα ερμάριο με βάση από ξύλο με χρωματισμό εβένου και διακοσμήσεις από αλάβαστρο και επίχρυσο μπρούντζο που αποτελεί δωρεά της Ελένης Σταθάτου. Στο εξωτερικό των θυρόφυλλών του παριστάνονται οι αλληγορικές μορφές τεσσάρων από τις αρετές: Καρτερία, Πίστη, Ανδρεία και Φρόνηση. Στο εσωτερικό μία σκαλιστή πλάκα απεικονίζει τον Ορφέα να γοητεύει με τη λύρα του ζώα υπαρκτά και φανταστικά, τα οποία παριστάνονται σε επιπλέον πλάκες που κοσμούν συρτάρια και άλλες επιφάνειες. Σε μια άλλη πλάκα εικονίζεται ο Νάρκισσος και απέναντί του η Αρπαγή της Ευρώπης από το Δία μεταμορφωμένο σε ταύρο. Η διάλεξη αυτή αναλύει τόσο τις πηγές των μορφών και σκηνών αυτών όσο και τον τόπο και χρόνο παραγωγής του ερμαριού, προτείνοντας μια ερμηνεία της σύνθετης εικονογραφίας του.
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In May 1936, the steamship ‘Sorrento’ sailed into the port of Piraeus, Greece. Aboard were 452 items of Chinese pottery, destined to join another 341 already on display at the Benaki Museum. Over the past 9 years the museum’s founder,... more
In May 1936, the steamship ‘Sorrento’ sailed into the port of Piraeus, Greece. Aboard were 452 items of Chinese pottery, destined to join another 341 already on display at the Benaki Museum. Over the past 9 years the museum’s founder, Antonis Benakis, had been in contact with their donor, a British businessman of Greek origin, George Eumorfopoulos. Eumorfopoulos was pivotal among the enthusiasts and scholars who, during the early 20th century, changed long-held preconceptions about China. In gifting these Chinese ceramics to Greece, Eumorfopoulos rendered them ambassadors of an ancient culture to a homeland he hardly knew himself while, at the same time, contributing to a national effort spearheaded by Benakis.
Research Interests: Colonialism, Chinese Art, Diaspora Studies, History of Collections, Collecting (Art), and 14 moreCollecting and Collections, History of Collecting, Patronage and collecting, Collectors and Collecting, History of Collecting and Antiquarianism, Chinese Design and Arts, Collecting, Chinese Pottery, Chinese art history, Chinese Porcelain in Foreign Countries, Chinese Ceramics, Art Collecting, Modernity/coloniality/decoloniality, and History of Chinese Ceramics
The 1,300-item-strong Benaki Museum Chinese Art Collection, largely donated by George Eumorfopoulos between 1927 and 1936, went into storage in 1990 and has remained there since. The lecture will present a few of the most interesting... more
The 1,300-item-strong Benaki Museum Chinese Art Collection, largely donated by George Eumorfopoulos between 1927 and 1936, went into storage in 1990 and has remained there since. The lecture will present a few of the most interesting items in the collection, will trace the fifteen-year-long effort to raise awareness on it and will examine its future prospects within a shifting political and cultural landscape.
Research Interests: Chinese Art, Chinese Language and Culture, Chinese archaeology, Late Imperial-Modern China, British Museum, and 13 moreGreek Archaeology, Museology, University Museums, Chinese Pottery, Chinese art history, The Art and Culture of Anchient Chinese Porcelain, Chinese Porcelain in Foreign Countries, Chinese Ceramics, Chinese Porcelain, Collectors, Collections and Museums: The Field of Chinese Ceramics in Britain, 1560-1960, Chinese Art and Culture - Ming and Qing - France / China Trade XVIIe-XVIIIe - Landscape Painting - Porcelain - History of French Collections, Victoria and Albert Museum, Benaki Museum, History of Chinese Ceramics, and Chinese export porcelain
Μετά τη μικρασιατική καταστροφή άνθησε στον Πειραιά η κεραμική βιοτεχνία. Πεπειραμένοι τεχνίτες, πρόσφυγες από την Κιουτάχεια της Μικράς Ασίας, μεταφύτευσαν εκεί το οθωμανικό διακοσμητικό λεξιλόγιο. Στη δεκαετία του 1930 κλήθηκαν... more
Μετά τη μικρασιατική καταστροφή άνθησε στον Πειραιά η κεραμική βιοτεχνία. Πεπειραμένοι τεχνίτες, πρόσφυγες από την Κιουτάχεια της Μικράς Ασίας, μεταφύτευσαν εκεί το οθωμανικό διακοσμητικό λεξιλόγιο. Στη δεκαετία του 1930 κλήθηκαν να διακοσμήσουν δημόσια κτήρια με ζωφόρους από πλακίδια με ισλαμικά μοτίβα, μια απροσδόκητη επιλογή που μπορεί να ερμηνευθεί στο ιστορικό και ιδεολογικό πλαίσιο της περιόδου.
Research Interests: Ottoman History, Ottoman Studies, Ottoman Empire, Modern Greece, Modern Greek History, and 17 moreModern Greek Politics, Ottoman Balkans, Late Ottoman Period, History of Ottoman Art and Architecture, Greece and its Balkan neighbors in Modern History, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Late Ottoman History, Modern Greek Studies, Modern Greek culture, Kütahya, Eleutherios Venizelos, Iznik, Modern and Contemporary Greek History, Iznik Pottery, İSmet İNönü, Eleftherios Venizelos, and Iznik Ceramics
This paper examined a small group of so-called ‘Chinese export wares,’ items manufactured in China and destined for an international audience, that feature Armenian inscriptions, monograms, initials, or coats of arms, signs of the... more
This paper examined a small group of so-called ‘Chinese export wares,’ items manufactured in China and destined for an international audience, that feature Armenian inscriptions, monograms, initials, or coats of arms, signs of the Armenian ethnicity of those who commissioned them. The group includes two enamelled copper items, apparently from the same commission, as well as an assortment of porcelains that are dated either by inscription or through stylistic analysis between the third quarter of the 18th century and the middle of the 19th. These little-known wares reflect the destinies of Armenian communities in their Caucasian homeland and in diaspora.
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Research Interests: Islamic Archaeology, Chinese Art, Islamic Art, History of the Mongol Empire, Islamic' Architecture, and 6 moreMongol empire, Chinese art history, Medieval Islamic and Turco-Iranian world, Mongol world empire, Seljuk, Mongol, post-Mongol, and Ottoman Anatolia (1200-1500), Comparative empire, frontier, and political culture, and Persian and Ottoman Turkish historical writing
Since gaining its independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1830, the state of Greece has treaded a precarious path between a pro-European discourse, channelled through ideologically-charged antiquarianism, and the reality of its... more
Since gaining its independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1830, the state of Greece has treaded a precarious path between a pro-European discourse, channelled through ideologically-charged antiquarianism, and the reality of its geographical and cultural surroundings, namely the other Balkan states and Turkey. The country’s Ottoman past has been eschewed, yet its monuments still dot the landscape. Paradoxically, artworks falling within the category of ‘Islamic art’ have been appreciated and avidly collected. This tripolar schema of nationalism, reality and aesthetics has continued to evolve throughout the 20th century, with the interwar period forming a cosmopolitan interlude; the first years of the 21st century have witnessed a renewal of the debate. This lecture discusses examples of ancient and contemporary Islamic art preserved, researched, created and collected in Greece within the contexts of the country’s modern history and culture.
Research Interests: Ottoman History, Ottoman Studies, Islamic Art, Ottoman Empire, Modern Greece, and 9 moreModern Greek History, Ottoman Balkans, Late Ottoman Period, History of Ottoman Art and Architecture, Greece and its Balkan neighbors in Modern History, Economic and Social History of the Ottoman Empire, Late Ottoman History, Modern Greek Studies, and Modern Greek culture
The early part of the twentieth century witnessed an intensification of nationalistic sentiment in the Balkans; the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire shifted state boundaries and resulted in dramatic population movements. The major move... more
The early part of the twentieth century witnessed an intensification of nationalistic sentiment in the Balkans; the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire shifted state boundaries and resulted in dramatic population movements. The major move to Greece after 1922 resulted in the foundation of pottery factories which continued this tradition in the shapes and decorations of their wares. Their principal commissions were Neoclassical but also Ottoman-style tile revetments for Greek state buildings. The latter fashion may at first seem surprising but a careful reading of the buildings and the politics of the time reveals a tangled historical and cultural context.
Research Interests: Islamic Art, Ottoman Empire, Modern Greece, Modern Greek History, Modern Greek Politics, and 12 moreOttoman Balkans, Late Ottoman Period, History of Ottoman Art and Architecture, Ottoman art and architecture, Greece and its Balkan neighbors in Modern History, Greek Pottery, Modern Greek Studies, Modern Greek culture, Kütahya, Modern and Contemporary Greek History, Iznik Pottery, and Greek Ceramics
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Research Interests: Islamic Art, Safavids (Islamic History), History of Ottoman Art and Architecture, Ottoman art and architecture, Qajar Persia, and 15 moreSafavid Persia, Ottoman Art, Islamic art history, Ottomans, Arabic and Islamic Art History, Qajar Art, Chios, Persian Art, History of Persian art and architecture, Ottoman Heritage Art and Architecture, Chios during the Ottoman rule, Qajar Iran, Persian History (From the Safavids to the Qajars), Chinese Export Paintings, and Chinese export porcelain
Research Interests: Ottoman Archaeology, Ottoman Empire, Ottoman Balkans, History of Ottoman Art and Architecture, Aegean Archaeology, and 7 moreOttoman art and architecture, Medieval Greece, European and Ottoman relations in Early Modern of Europe, Early Ottoman Architecture, Early Ottoman Cities, Late Byzantine Art and Architecture, Ottoman Heritage Art and Architecture, Archaeology of the Cyclades, and Cyclades Archaeology of Andros
Research Interests: Chinese Studies, Mongolian Studies, Islam in China, Chinese Art, Chinese Language and Culture, and 24 moreChina, Yuan Dynasty, History of the Mongol Empire, Mongols, Chinese history (History), Mongolian and Central Asian Studies, Mongol empire, Ilkhanate, Painting of Sung, Yuan Dynasty China, Mughal and Ilkhanid/Timurid Art & Architecture, Muslims in Yuan Dynasty, China, Mongol conquests, Yuan dynasty, Mongolic Studies, History and coinage of the Yuan Dynasty and pre-Yuan mongols in China, Chinese Concept of Yuan, Yuan and Ming Dynasty China, Ilkhanids, Ilkhanid Period, Ilkhanid Art, Ilkhanid Empire, Medieval Islamic and Turco-Iranian world, Mongol world empire, Seljuk, Mongol, post-Mongol, and Ottoman Anatolia (1200-1500), Comparative empire, frontier, and political culture, and Persian and Ottoman Turkish historical writing
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A brief foreword to a book on an album of drawings by Fotis Kontoglou.
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A short foreword to the catalogue for the 'Avigdor Arikha; A Breath' exhibition at the Benaki Museum in summer 2019.
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A short contribution to a major volume on the Silk Roads.
Research Interests: Anthropology of Pilgrimage, Pilgrimage, Pilgrimage Routes, Silk Road, Silk Road Studies, and 15 morePilgrimage and Art, Pilgrimage and travel to the Holy Land, Pilgrimage and Tourism, Sinai, Archaeology of pilgrimage, Christian pilgrimage shrines, Medieval pilgrimage, Pilgrims, Archaeology of the Silk Road, St.Catherine's Monastery (Sinai), Mount Sinai, Icons and Rituals: Sacred Biography, Pilgrimage and Sacred Spaces, Saint Catherine's Monastery, Egypt, Archaeology of the Negev and Sinai, and Christian Sinai
A short text introducting a body of works by Greek artist Irini Gonou presented at the Imaret of Kavala, Greece in 2014.
Research Interests: Contemporary Art, Contemporary Arts, Ottoman Balkans, Modern and contemporary crafts (Art), History of Ottoman Art and Architecture, and 6 moreOttoman art and architecture, Modern and Contemporary Art, Contemporary art history and institutional history of museums, Ottoman Heritage Art and Architecture, Curating contemporary art, and CONTEMPORARY GREEK ART
A brief recollection of a three-month term teaching Islamic art in London.
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Research Interests: Chinese Art, Chinese archaeology, material culture, silk road, Islamic and Chinese ceramics, Chinese Ceramics, Collectors, Collections and Museums: The Field of Chinese Ceramics in Britain, 1560-1960, and 3 moreChinese Art and Culture - Ming and Qing - France / China Trade XVIIe-XVIIIe - Landscape Painting - Porcelain - History of French Collections, Collecting and Exhibiting Chinese Art, and Benaki Museum
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The paper focuses on the glazed pottery and lamp sherds unearthed from the site of Hagia Koryphe (Jabal Musa, Mose’s Summit) on Mount Sinai, Egypt. An attempt is made to link this material to the historical outline provided by written... more
The paper focuses on the glazed pottery and lamp sherds unearthed from the site of Hagia Koryphe (Jabal Musa, Mose’s Summit) on Mount Sinai, Egypt. An attempt is made to link this material to the historical outline provided by written sources.
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Research Interests: History of Collections, Collecting (Art), Collecting and Collections, Collecting and Display, History of Collecting, and 9 morePatronage and collecting, Art collectors and connoisseurs, Collectors and Collecting, History of Collecting and Antiquarianism, Collecting, Children's Museums, Collector, Collecting and Collections History of Collecting, and History of Art Collecting 19th/20th Century
The oldest knotted-pile carpets and flat-woven rugs were excavated at Pazyryk in southern Siberia and are datable to the 4th century B.C.E. The production of carpets and flat-weaves was a traditional activity of Central Asian Turkic... more
The oldest knotted-pile carpets and flat-woven rugs were excavated at Pazyryk in southern Siberia and are datable to the 4th century B.C.E. The production of carpets and flat-weaves was a traditional activity of Central Asian Turkic tribes who brought their designs and techniques with them as they migrated westwards from the 11th century onwards. These nomadic people produced functional flat-weaves and knotted-pile carpets for their own use, using mobile looms and weaving patterns from memory, whereas settled communities in villages and cities made carpets following specific designs. Such commercially produced carpets were widely exported to Europe from the fifteenth century onwards, appearing in paintings by leading artists such as Holbein, Lotto and Bellini. Across Asia and Europe no high-status interior was properly furnished without an extensive display of carpets.
This specialist course explored the history and manufacture of knotted-pile carpets and flat-weaves in Tibet, Central Asia, the Islamic world and India. The course demonstrated production methods through a practical display of carpet weaving as well as including a variety of close viewing and handling sessions.
This specialist course explored the history and manufacture of knotted-pile carpets and flat-weaves in Tibet, Central Asia, the Islamic world and India. The course demonstrated production methods through a practical display of carpet weaving as well as including a variety of close viewing and handling sessions.
Research Interests: Islamic Art, Safavids (Islamic History), History of Ottoman Art and Architecture, Ottoman art and architecture, Prehistoric And Tribal Arts, and 17 moreSafavid Persia, Safavid Iran, Carpet, Cottage Industries, Painting,sculpture and carpets in Europa Paintings, Museum Studies; Asian Art; Oriental Carpets, Ottoman Heritage Art and Architecture, Islamic textiles and carpets, Carpet and Kilim, Texts and Textiles / Material Culture / Oriental Carpets / Textile Theory, Ukrainian Carpets, Carpets, Oriental Carpets, Persian Carpets, Carpets and Rugs, Carpet and Rugs Industry, Persian Carpets, islamic art, and Ottoman Carpets
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This postgraduate programme offers a unique opportunity to study the arts of Asia and the Islamic world with lectures by leading scholars in the field. The course will provide an object-based learning experience through direct access to... more
This postgraduate programme offers a unique opportunity to study the arts of Asia and the Islamic world with lectures by leading scholars in the field. The course will provide an object-based learning experience through direct access to the reserved collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) and the British Museum. The lecture programme is supported by field trips to museums, galleries and private collections. The course is designed to train museum curators or serious collectors. It will also prepare students for work in a variety of professions in the art and the museum world and provides a pathway to the master’s degree for those with no background in the subject. Museums and curators in Asia, and museums specialising in non-Western collections elsewhere, will find it an attractive, object-focused training opportunity for enhancing curatorial skills in the study, display and cataloguing of art objects in a fully-resourced academic environment. Students can choose one or more in combination of the three-month modules on offer annually, which are listed below. Those who successfully complete a single module will be awarded a certificate. Students successfully completing any three of the modules below will be awarded a SOAS (University of London) accredited Postgraduate Diploma in Asian Art.
Research Interests: Aesthetics, Architecture, Islamic Art, Islamic Studies, Early and Medieval Islamic Art and Architecture, and 7 moreByzantine Western Medieval Islamic Art & Architecture, Islamic art history, Islamic art and architecture, Islamic art and archaeology, Asian Art, Historiography of Islamic Art, and Islamic Book Arts
This four day course will examine the culture and the arts of China under the Song 宋, the Yuan 元 and the Ming 明 (960-1644 CE) within their historical and social context. Leading specialists will give illustrated lectures on paintings,... more
This four day course will examine the culture and the arts of China under the Song 宋, the Yuan 元 and the Ming 明 (960-1644 CE) within their historical and social context. Leading specialists will give illustrated lectures on paintings, ceramics, textiles and other decorative arts. There will also be visits to museums, auction previews and galleries. The course will include a tour of the exhibition Ming: 50 Years that Changed China at the British Museum and coincides with Asian Art in London 2014, a series of events, exhibitions and sales (30 October - 8 November 2014).
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In this interdisciplinary colloquium, historians, art historians, archaeologists, museum professionals, folklore specialists, electricians and engineers will present the evolution of artificial lighting from antiquity to the present.... more
In this interdisciplinary colloquium, historians, art historians, archaeologists, museum professionals, folklore specialists, electricians and engineers will present the evolution of artificial lighting from antiquity to the present. Their approaches will vary; some will rely on archaeological finds, historical sources and surviving artefacts; others will present measurements of the luminosity of ancient Greek light sources (performed using replicas), shedding new light on private spaces in antiquity.
Moving from Late Antiquity into the Middle Ages, the lighting devices used by Christians, Muslims and Jews in the eastern Mediterranean to illuminate their secular and religious buildings will be placed into focus. Furthermore, the enduring symbolism of light (and of the naked flame in particular) in religious practice will be examined.
The introduction of electricity resulted in the most significant change in the history of public illumination in Greece. This change took place in the late 19th - early 20th century. Research will focus on the irregular distribution of access to electricity in various parts of Greece, an irregularity that accentuated social differentiation. Turning to the present, electromechanical engineers will suggest innovative ways of illuminating archaeological sites and the most advanced lighting equipment for museums and artefact displays.
Moving from Late Antiquity into the Middle Ages, the lighting devices used by Christians, Muslims and Jews in the eastern Mediterranean to illuminate their secular and religious buildings will be placed into focus. Furthermore, the enduring symbolism of light (and of the naked flame in particular) in religious practice will be examined.
The introduction of electricity resulted in the most significant change in the history of public illumination in Greece. This change took place in the late 19th - early 20th century. Research will focus on the irregular distribution of access to electricity in various parts of Greece, an irregularity that accentuated social differentiation. Turning to the present, electromechanical engineers will suggest innovative ways of illuminating archaeological sites and the most advanced lighting equipment for museums and artefact displays.