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The Medieval World

 The Medieval World

Karen Kramer HAA198G


The Medieval World was connected through networks of trade and exchange that criss-crossed the African continent and extended across Europe and through Asia; Mesoamerican civilizations had active long-distance exchange networks and huge markets across Mexico and as far south as Panama. These merchants carried goods, ideas, and people in boats, by foot, and on animals. Religions spread, such as Buddhism from India to China, as seen in this Standing Boddhisattva figure, and proliferated, as evidenced in this exquisitely carved Virgin and Child which demonstrated access to wealth and the divine. 


Luxury items like jade were highly sought after by Mayan rulers, as it symbolized, in part, precious falling rain, new life, and rejuvenation. Feathers, cacao, and honey were prestige items traded across Mesoamerica. Likewise, some of the most finely made objects used in the liturgical service of the church in the Medieval period in Europe used elephant ivory procured from Africa. The famed Silk Road in the Middle East and Asia was reopened during the Middle Ages, and traders also sailed across the Indian Ocean. Trade across the Mediterranean also occurred, connecting ports in Europe to Arab World, for spices, perfumes, leather goods, animal skins, jewels, and silk.



Tower Shaped Casket Box, 12th century

Italian

Ivory plaques mounted on oak, with gilt bronze fittings

28 x 22.5 x 22.5 cm (11 x 8 7/8 x 8 7/8 in.)

height with handle: 29.5 cm (11 5/8 in.)

Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Alpheus Hyatt Purchasing Fund, 1931 [Cat. No. 1931.52]


Box with lid ajar; detail of box



The Virgin and Child, about 1325-1350

Ile-de-France, France

French artist

Ivory

10 1/4 x 3 5/16 x 13/16 inches

Ernesta (Mrs. Louis) Stern. [Arnold Seligmann, Rey & Co., Inc.], sold; to the 

Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Francis H. Burr Memorial Fund [1931.33]


Standing Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara (Guanyin Pusa) with Circular Halo, 581 - 618 A.D., Sui dynasty

China

Limestone with traces of gilding and polychrome pigment

62 3/16 x 13 1/2 x 13 inches

Weight: 530 pounds

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop [1943.53.43]



Deity Figure, 3th-6th Century

Mayan artist, Copan, Honduras

Jade

 4 1/4 x 2 1/2 x 15/16 inches

Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1979 [1979.206.1069]


Late Medieval Land & Maritime Trade Routes

Classic period trade routes, Mayan civilization

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