VISUAL ARTS + MUSEUMS

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston,  The Boniuk Center for Religious Tolerance at Rice University and His HIghness Prince Aga Khan Shia Imami Ismaili Council for the Southwestern United States present a Special Lecture: Splendors of the Fatimid Court, Sunday, March 20 at 3pm. Featuring Dr. Francesca Leoni, Curator of the Arts of the Islamic World at the MFAH. Location:  Ismaili Jamathkhana and Center, 1700 First Colony Blvd, Sugar Land.

The art produced under the Fatimids, a Shi'a dynasty that ruled North Africa and Egypt between 909 A.D. and 1171 A.D., reflects one of the most prolific moments in the history of Islamic art. In addition to founding cities - among which al-Qahira ("the victories one," today's Cairo) - and building majestic palaces, its rules patronized exquisite objects in a wide range of media. These include textiles, metalwork, and ceramics, as well as more luxurious materials such as rock crystals, ivory, and jewelry. 

These objects were greatly treasured at home, before reaching Europe at the time of the Crusades, when these objects were brought into churches and were used as reliquaries. 

The lecture will focus on the exceptional artistic legacy of this dynasty and will introduce the wider public to the refined taste of Islamic art.

Dr. Francesca Leoni is the Curator of the Arts of the Islamic world at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston She first joined the Musuem of FIne Arts, Houston staff in 2008 as a result of a joint appointment between the MFAH and Rice University, where she was a postdoctoral scholar in Islamic Art and Architecture.  She is a specialist in the arts of the book in the pre-modern and early modern times.

This Event is co-sponsored by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and The Boniuk Center for Religious Tolerance at Rice University.

Pictured:  Lustre-decorated pottery jar. Fatimid Egypt or Syria.10th-11th c CE. @Aga Khan Trust for Culture, Geneva.