Byzantium, Islam and Turkey

© David Gill

The exhibition "Byzantium and Islam: Age of Transition" opens at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art later this month. More details can be found here, including a list of lenders.

An exhibition with a focus on Byzantium / Constantinople would expect to include material from the world-class collections in Turkey. But the press release has no mention of objects on loan from Turkey.

It now appears that Turkey has refused to make any loans ("Turkey Bans Artifact Loans to NY Metropolitan Museum", International Business Times News March 5, 2012). Ertugrul Günay, the Turkish Culture and Tourism Minister, has made a claim on antiquities in the Met's collection: "You have artifacts that were stolen from Turkey. We'll cooperate once you've returned them to us."

The items presumably include Byzantine silver.