VISUAL ARTS + MUSEUMS

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston presents a MFAH Special Lecture -  Charlemagne’s Elephant, Sunday, Decemb er 4 at 3pm. Presented by Dr. Jonathan Bloom, Norma Jean Calderwood University Professor of Islamic and Asian Art, Fine Arts Department, Boston College.

Around the year 800, Harun al-Rashid—the famed Abbasid caliph featured in 1001 Nights—sent the Emperor Charlemagne an Indian elephant named Abu'l-Abbas, as well as a mechanical clock. This incident, recorded by Charlemagne’s biographer, is just one instance of many in which the rulers of the medieval Islamic world exchanged lavish gifts not only with each other but also with their Christian contemporaries in Byzantium and Western Europe.

In this richly illustrated talk, Dr. Jonathan Bloom presents surviving examples of such gifts made from rock crystal, ivory, and other precious materials, along with intriguing stories about these exquisite objects and how they were repurposed in their new homes.

This lecture is presented in conjunction with the exhibition Gifts of the Sultan: The Arts of Giving at the Islamic Courts, the first exhibition to explore the complex interplay between the practice of gift-exchange and the development of Islamic art.

Promotional support for this program has been generously provided by His Highness Prince Aga Khan Shia Imami Ismaili Council for the Southwestern United States.

This lecture is open to the public and free with general museum admission. A reception to meet the speaker follows the program.