Mosaic Glass Fragments

Mosaic Glass Fragments

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Between 1907 and 1909, the Metropolitan Museum excavated at Ain et-Turba in the Kharga Oasis. Archaeologists found large numbers of glass fragments, many of high quality and expensive manufacture. Hundreds of glass fragments were recovered. The mosaic glasswork technique used on some of the fragments is similar to millefiori, "thousand flowers" in Italian. This method fused tiny rods of colored glass and created flower-like patterns. In this case are examples of painted glass as well. One shows a tiger attacking an antelope, surrounded by leaves and flowers. No other excavation from this Late Antique Egyptian region contained the amount and quality of glass discovered in Ain et-Turba. In Bagawat, there was evidence that glass like this was placed in the plaster of the tombs’ domes in order to have a glittering effect on the rooms.

Medieval Art and The Cloisters

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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The Museum's collection of medieval and Byzantine art is among the most comprehensive in the world. Displayed in both The Met Fifth Avenue and in the Museum's branch in northern Manhattan, The Met Cloisters, the collection encompasses the art of the Mediterranean and Europe from the fall of Rome in the fourth century to the beginning of the Renaissance in the early sixteenth century. It also includes pre-medieval European works of art created during the Bronze Age and early Iron Age.