Preface and Acknowledgments

Kalavrezou, Ioli

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Preface and Acknowledgments

Ioli Kalavrezou

Byzantine Women and Their World

Through artifacts and images, this exhibition presents the environment and concerns of women in Byzantine society. It grew out of a graduate seminar, “Women in Byzantine Art,” that I offered in the Department of History of Art and Architecture at Harvard during the spring of 1999. The dynamic exchange that this topic generated in class discussion and...

Author

Ioli Kalavrezou

PublisherHarvard Art Museums

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00029.003

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-18194

Preface and Acknowledgments

Through artifacts and images, this exhibition presents the environment and concerns of women in Byzantine society. It grew out of a graduate seminar, “Women in Byzantine Art,” that I offered in the Department of History of Art and Architecture at Harvard during the spring of 1999. The dynamic exchange that this topic generated in class discussion and the broad range of stimulating work that the students produced recommended the topic for further exploration in the form of an exhibition. The majority of the essays in this catalogue and much of the work presented in the object entries reflect the specific research interests of participants in the seminar.

The material for the exhibition was assembled from North American collections only, and as such provides a good sampling of the wealth of Byzantine art and artifacts in the United States and Canada. The planning took place at a time when many museums were rediscovering their Byzantine collections, largely in response to the great success of the 1997 exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Glory of Byzantium. For us, this was something of a mixed blessing. Many museums were eager to share their holdings, and we are proud that a large number of the works of art in this exhibition are published here for the first time. Other collections, however, having just reinstalled their own Byzantine displays, were unable to lend us their works. Several objects in well-known collections that would have contributed to the themes of the exhibition could not, regrettably, be included.

Recent scholarly publications on topics relevant to women’s lives in Byzantium have made clear the great variety and wealth of this emerging subfield. Continuing interest has been demonstrated through the conference “Byzantine Women: The Everyday Experience,” held at the University of California, Los Angeles, in April 2001, and the panel “Women and Byzantium” at the 28th Byzantine Studies Conference, held at Ohio State University in October 2002. This is the first time, however, that the topic of women in Byzantium is being studied through assembled works of art.

Each of the eight sections of the catalogue highlights a major theme that groups the objects in the exhibition. The sections, with their introductory essays, are not meant to be comprehensive. Rather, they are intended to stimulate further investigation of the issues raised and to indicate the vital role that art and material culture can play in studying the experience of Byzantine women.

This exhibition was three and a half years in the making. It drew from the talent and hard work of many individuals and the resources of numerous institutions. I thank all those who generously collaborated on this project. Without their expertise and willingness to help it would not have been possible.

I express my special thanks to the directors, curators, and administrative staff of the lending institutions, especially for their willingness to collaborate so generously with graduate students. The exhibition found a home in the Department of Ancient and Byzantine Art and Numismatics at the Harvard University Art Museums, and I am tremendously grateful to David Mitten, Amy Brauer, and Karen Manning for their daily support and unremitting patience. The Publications Department of the Museums, headed by Evelyn Rosenthal, provided expert guidance in the production of this catalogue; I would like to thank especially Marsha Pomerantz, who tirelessly edited the entire text with great perception. Katy Homans, an independent designer, gave the book its elegant look. The catalogue stands as the permanent document of the temporary display at the Arthur M. Sackler Museum, and as such it is the appropriate place to recognize the outstanding work of the HUAM Exhibitions Department, headed by Danielle Hanrahan, whose keen eye and expert craft made it possible to realize in the gallery the ideas that emerged from my own and graduate-student research and that find expression in these pages. She was ably assisted by Peter Schilling and Steve Hutchison; Carolann Barrett of Publications edited the wall text. I am grateful also to Amanda Ricker-Prugh of the Registrar’s Office for overseeing our contacts with lenders; Henry Lie, Tony Sigel, Nancy Lloyd, and intern Amy Jones of HUAM’s Straus Center for Conservation, as well as independent conservator Dierdre Windsor, for preparing the objects for exhibition; and Katya Kallsen and Jay Beebe of the Digital Imaging and Photography Department for photographing HUAM objects for the catalogue. It is no exaggeration to say that this exhibition owes its success to the commitment of James Cuno, who from the beginning supported the project with great enthusiasm and always found the means to ensure its progress.

My warmest thanks go to the graduate students who, through their initial enthusiasm and support in the seminar and their research and contributions to the catalogue, have made this project possible. I would like to single out a few for their special assistance: Molly Fulghum Heintz, as an Andrew W. Mellon intern in the Museums, contributed to the initial phase of organization. Elizabeth Gittings and Alicia Walker, also Mellon interns, have been invaluable; without them the exhibition and catalogue would not have been realized. There has not been a day in the last two years when their continuous commitment and hard work did not bring us closer to our goal. Alicia’s ability to see the larger picture and coordinate details at all times helped every one of us. Special thanks go also to Philip Maxeiner for his linguistic talents.

IOLI KALAVREZOU
Dumbarton Oaks Professor of Byzantine Art History
Harvard University

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