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Today at the Museum

November 21, 2009

ROAR (Sec. F7, ages 4 and 5)

10 – 11:30 a.m.
Classroom 111

Let's sink our teeth and claws into something truly fierce! In the Galleries: Look closely at Lion and Serpent, the Louvre's famous bronze by Antoine-Louis Barye, on view in "The Louvre and the Masterpiece." Examine how the artist portrays raw ...

Door Panel
Title:Door Panel
Date:14th century
Medium:Wood and ivory
Dimensions:65 x 25 1/2 x 2 in. (165.1 x 64.77 x 5.08 cm) 7 1/2 x 13 1/2 x 29 1/2 in. ...
Creation Place:Africa, Egypt
Credit Line:The Katherine Kittredge McMillan Memorial Fund
Accession Number:83.79
Location:G243
Mamluk artisans in Cairo were excellent woodworkers whose creations included window grilles, cupboards, doors, and furniture for both secular and religious buildings. These panels most likely served as doors within the spectacular decorative screens that partitioned spaces inside the standard Mamluk mosque. Islamic craftsmen devised geometric compositions in wood, ivory, stone, and tile. These panels are composed of three major zones evolving from an eight-pointed star. Symmetrically arranged polygons of ivory inlay enrich each of these stars, and the theme recurs in each of the zones. Typical of Islamic architecture in general, the entire effect, though highly decorative, retains a sense of geometric logic and order.