This event takes place at the Ismaili Jamatkhana and Center
1700 First Colony Blvd. in Sugar Land

Presented by Michael Barry, lecturer in Near Eastern Studies, Princeton University

Royal symbols across the traditional Eurasian world have included crowns, orbs, and scepters; thrones or standards guarded by twin heraldic beasts such as lions or dragons; a magic cup supposed to mirror the universe; a halo radiating around the royal head; even the seemingly minor yet telltale detail of a handkerchief clutched in the princely fist of Venetian doges, Turkish sultans, and Mughal emperors. Magnificent Islamic heraldry ranging from caliphal Spain to Mughal India derived from many of these symbols, which reappear in much medieval and Renaissance Christian art, from Roman and Persian origins, combining the heraldry of the twin ancient empires that once contested mastery of the world—from the cup held tight against the chest to signify a cosmic ruler´s pure heart in Iranian mythology, to the handkerchief once cast by Roman consuls into the arena to signal the start of the games, for centuries another stubbornly transmitted visual emblem of imperial power from Byzantium to Baghdad. Countless idealized rulers have sat enthroned over vanquished lions or dragons in the royal arts of Cordova, Paris, Istanbul, Delhi, and Beijing.

About the Speaker
Michael Barry, a recognized expert on Islamic art, literature, and history, helped reorganize the galleries of Islamic art that opened at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art in fall 2011. In addition to teaching Islamic literature and history at Princeton, he regularly lectures in Morocco and Afghanistan on medieval Islamic art and archaeology, notably under the auspices of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture.

Cosponsored by the MFAH and the Boniuk Center for Religious Tolerance at Rice University.