New York-Metropolita..Art-Celestial Globe3
Copper Alloy inlaid with silver and copper 'Alam al-Din Qaysar 1225-6, Syria or Egypt Covered with 48 figures from constellations and 1025 stars graduated in size to convey relative magnitude, this splendid globe belonged to Sultan al-Malik al-Kamil (r. 1218-1238), nephew of Saladin, who conquored Jewusalem in 1187. In al-Kamil's hands, scientific instruments served as diplomatic tools. The exchange of beautiful and sophisticated works like this one provided a framework for friendship with the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II (1194-1250). Though adversaries, they were able to forge a decade-long treaty that ensured shared access to Jerusalem.
aperture=f2.8 focal length: 90.0 mm exposure 1/100 sec ISO: 1600
New York-Metropolita.. and Incense Burner9
Brass, silver, gold and black compound 14th C, Egypt or Syria With its tiny dome, this box seems to acknowledge a symbiotic relationship between metalwork and architecture. During his reign, al-Nasir Muhammad restored the domes of both the Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. From as early as the late 12th c, sultans were associated with "sweet, heady perfume", so it is fitting that his name and attributes should appear on a vessel in which incense or other aromatics would be burned.
aperture=f2.8 focal length: 90.0 mm exposure 1/40 sec ISO: 6400
New York-Metropolita..se Burner - closeup8
Brass, silver, gold and black compound 14th C, Egypt or Syria With its tiny dome, this box seems to acknowledge a symbiotic relationship between metalwork and architecture. During his reign, al-Nasir Muhammad restored the domes of both the Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. From as early as the late 12th c, sultans were associated with "sweet, heady perfume", so it is fitting that his name and attributes should appear on a vessel in which incense or other aromatics would be burned.
aperture=f2.8 focal length: 90.0 mm exposure 1/100 sec ISO: 3200
New York-Metropolita..Hoard - belt buckle2
11th C, Caesarea Gold filagree
aperture=f2.8 focal length: 90.0 mm exposure 1/100 sec ISO: 1000
New York-Metropolita..Jewish Wedding Ring5
Gold with enamel 1301-1350 Rhine river valley
aperture=f2.8 focal length: 90.0 mm exposure 1/100 sec ISO: 5000
New York-Metropolita..Jewish Wedding Ring6
Gold with enamel 1301-1350 Rhine river valley
aperture=f2.8 focal length: 90.0 mm exposure 1/100 sec ISO: 5000
New York-Metropolita..eo Arabic Astrolabe1
Brass with Silver Designed by Abraham c. 1300 Andalusia
aperture=f2.8 focal length: 90.0 mm exposure 1/100 sec ISO: 1600
New York-Metropolita..the Angel 'Azra'il11
Paths of Paradies (Nahj al-faradis) Opaque watercolor, gold and ink on paper Written by al-Sara'i and comissioned by the Timurid ruler Abu Sa'id (r. 1451-1469), c. 1466, Herat "The Prophit Muhammad Encountering the Angel 'Azra'il
aperture=f2.8 focal length: 90.0 mm exposure 1/100 sec ISO: 5000
New York-Metropolita..f Jacques de Vitry10
Cross: gilded silver, cloisonne enamel on gold, semiprecious stones and blagg; base: gilded copper Enamels: 1160-1180, eastern Mediterranean; Cross: soon after 1216, Acre; base: after 1228, Oignies
aperture=f2.8 focal length: 90.0 mm exposure 1/100 sec ISO: 4000
New York-Metropolita..Art-Samaratin Bible4
1232, Yavneh When he famously traveled from his native Spain to the Holy Land, Benjamin of Tuleda, who was Jewish, remarked on the peculiar Hebrew alphabet of the many Samaratin communities he encountered. The Samaratins traced their lineage to the ancient Israelites but did not consider themselves Jewish, and their alphabet is a direct descendent of the ancient Paleo-Hebrew once used by all Jews.
aperture=f2.8 focal length: 90.0 mm exposure 1/60 sec ISO: 6400
New York-Metropolita..-The Angel Israfil12
From The Wonders of Creation and Oddities of Existance ('Aja'ib al-Makhluqat) Written by al-Qazwini MS Late 14th, early 15th C In Islamic belief, as in Christianity, archangels will play a key role in the Last Judgement. Heralding the Day of Resurrection, the angel Israfil blows his trumpet, calling all creatures to assemble in Jerusalem. The celestial being is not named in the Koran, but in hadith, or the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, and scholars specify that he sounds his call from the sacred Rock. He is discussed along with Gabriel, whose entry begins on this folio, and other angels in this cosmographic study of both the divine and material aspects of the world
aperture=f2.0 focal length: 55.0 mm exposure 1/60 sec ISO: 2500
New York-Metropolita..Fatimid Inscription1
Marble Original: 1150, Arms 1241 Ascalon To the victor go the spoils. This large slab of white marble was a prize won in battle. It had first been used to record the building of a tower in Ascalon during the reign of the Fatimid caliph al-Zafir (1149-1154). The cities defenses were inadequate against the attacks of Crusaders, among them Sir Hugh of Wake (d. 1241). For Sir Hugh's purposes, a mason turned the inscription on its side and cut through it, superimposing the Englishman's coat of arms and two smaller, unidentified ones. The intended use is unknown, but the message concerning who is in charge is clear. The memories of both the tower and the knight wer revived when this slab was excavatd in Ascalon several decades ago.
aperture=f2.8 focal length: 90.0 mm exposure 1/100 sec ISO: 2500
New York-Metropolita.. the Divine Service7
from the Mishneh Torah c. 1457, Venice or Lombardy
aperture=f2.8 focal length: 90.0 mm exposure 1/50 sec ISO: 6400
New York-Metropolita..int Thomas Capital13
Limestone, 1170s Nazareth Christ miraculously appears in a locked house in Jerusalem, pulling aside his tunic and holding up his palm so that the incredulous Thomas can inspect his wounds and verify his identity. Flanking pairs of apostles add to the drama of the scene, their outstretched arms and swirling robes creating dynamic patterns.
aperture=f2.2 focal length: 55.0 mm exposure 1/50 sec ISO: 320
New York-Metropolita..nd Apostle Capital14
Limestone Early 1170s, Nazareth The crowned Virgin guides a haloed apostle through the depravities of hell, personified by the nightmarish demons advancing on all sides.
aperture=f2.2 focal length: 55.0 mm exposure 1/50 sec ISO: 800
New York-Morgan Libr..ew Testament - Eden6
1530s Peter Dell the Elder Pearwood
aperture=f2.0 focal length: 55.0 mm exposure 1/60 sec ISO: 6400
New York-Morgan Libr..rabbe- Annunciation1
1467-1470 Hans Memling These figuers of the Angel Gabriel and the Virgin Mary were originally the outer faces of the altarpiece's wings. They would not have been visable when the altarpiece was open, but when it was closed, they would have paired to create the Annunciation seen here. At a unknown date, the wings were sawed in half, separating the back from the front. There was a tradition in fifteenth-century Flemish painting of depicting fictive sculpture of saints on the outer faces of altarpieces. Memling adopted and subverted that tradition here, showing the Virgin and Angel in niches and on plinths, in white garments that would look like sculpture, were it not for the rosy, living flesh of the figures' hands and heads. This demi-grisaille, one of the earliest examples in Flemish painting, is a sophisticated and self-concious play with the way naturalism works in the art of painting. Memling may also have been responding to a theological prompt. The annunciation was when Christ became flesh, and that moment is rendered here with incarnadine figures.
aperture=f2.0 focal length: 55.0 mm exposure 1/60 sec ISO: 3200
New York-Morgan Library-Kneeling Lady2
Workshop of Hugo van der Goes, c. 1480 This striking drawing of a gracefully kneeling lady relates to the work of Hugo van der Goes, who had a short but successful career in Ghent in the 1470s. The mechanical contour lines of the drapery indicate that, like so many other early drawings, this is a copy. The deilcate, layered hatching lines in the lady's face, however--typical of Hugo's drawing style--betray the copist's intimate knowledge of his work and suggest he trained in his workshop. It is likely that the prototype, and perhaps also this copy, served as a model for a female saint in paintings or miniatures.
aperture=f2.0 focal length: 55.0 mm exposure 1/60 sec ISO: 1600
New York-Morgan Library-Sibylle of Cleves7
1535 Lucas Cranach the Elder
aperture=f2.0 focal length: 55.0 mm exposure 1/60 sec ISO: 2500
New York-Morgan Libr..Belvedere Courtyard5
1565 Monogrammist HCB or Jacob Binck This engraving depicts a tournament that was held on 5 March 1565 in the Vatican's Belvedere Courtyard. The new St. Peter's Basilica under construction with the base of the dome as designed by Michelanfelo is visible in the background. The St. Peter's indulgance was first proclaimed in 1507 in an effort to finance this ambitious project. Successive indulgances were issues from 1515, when Raphael took over construction of the project, until 1555, when Pope Piux IV forbade the project. Three of Luther's theses attacking the sale of indulgances relate explicitly to the financing of the new St. Peters.
aperture=f2.0 focal length: 55.0 mm exposure 1/60 sec ISO: 2000
New York-Morgan Libr..h Saints and Donors4
1467-1470 Hans Memling In a single image that extends across all three panels, the altarpiece combines a view of the Crucifixion (with the Virgin Mary, St. John the Evangelist, and St. Mary Magdalene to the left of the cross) with images of the donor, his family, and their patron saints. Jan Crabbe kneels to the right of the cross, presented by his eponymous saint, John the Baptist, and by Bernard of Clairvaux, the founder of the Cistercian order. Anna Willemzoon, Carabbe's mother, is at left, with St. anne, while Willem de Winter, Crabbe's much younger half-brother is at right, presented by St. William. The broad landscape with its gathering storm clouds and the precise details of the plants, clothing, and distant buildings all attest to Memling's technical abilities. What is most extraordinary about the painting, however, is Memling's humanity: the exhausted grief of the figures to the left of the cross, for example, of the frank depiction of old age in the faces of St. Bernard and Anna Willemzoon.
aperture=f2.0 focal length: 55.0 mm exposure 1/60 sec ISO: 3200
New York-Morgan Libr..seup Mary Magdalene3
aperture=f2.0 focal length: 55.0 mm exposure 1/60 sec ISO: 4000