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Major New Award from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

Apply for fellowships in "Democracy and the Urban Landscape: Race, Identity, and Difference"



Garden and Landscape Studies has received a grant to create an interdisciplinary program in urban landscape studies. “Democracy and the Urban Landscape: Race, Identity, and Difference” is organized around broad themes that promote an understanding of cities as landscape systems by considering such topics as topography, hydrology, climate, landscape’s public history, the urban/rural interface, urban biodiversity and productivity, repurposing derelict urban spaces, and informal urbanism. The project is structured to acknowledge the current importance of sustainability, adaptability, and resilience. Apply for two categories of fellowships: Urban Landscape Fellowships for scholars conducting relevant research, and History Teaching Fellowships for faculty instructors in a university or other secondary educational institution.

Less Than One Week Left to See Written in Knots!

Ornament: Fragments of Byzantine Fashion Opening Soon

Exhibition on view September 10

See Woven Interiors: Furnishing Early Medieval Egypt Later this Month

Cocurated exhibition on view August 31 at The Textile Museum



In the early medieval era, the eastern Mediterranean’s palaces, villas, and sacred spaces were richly decorated with hangings, curtains, and other luxury fabrics. Opening August 31 at the George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum, Woven Interiors: Furnishing Early Medieval Egypt brings together rarely displayed artworks from the 4th to 12th centuries to reveal how textiles infused warmth and beauty into Egypt’s interiors. This exhibition is co-organized with Dumbarton Oaks.   

Landscape, Sport, Environment: The Spaces of Sport from the Early Modern Period to Today

Student award winners discuss the 2019 Garden and Landscape Studies Symposium



Read reflections on the annual Garden and Landscape Studies symposium from recipients of the Bliss and Mellon Symposium Awards. Held May 3 and 4, “Landscape, Sport, Environment: The Spaces of Sport from the Early Modern Period to Today” was organized by Sonja Dümpelmann. “The speakers explored a variety of sites and sporting cultures in their presentations: from the ambulatory spaces of the early modern Italian villa to the landscapes that became part of black sporting culture in Chicago during the 20th century,” writes an awardee, a PhD candidate in history at Harvard. The other two recipients were master’s candidates in landscape architecture, one noting that “the symposium advanced my studies by dealing with and finding landscape architecture-based solutions for current challenges like climate change.” Graduate students and advanced undergraduates can apply now for 2020 symposium award travel grants.

Digging into DOML

Subscribe Now to the 2019-2020 Concert Series

Explore the Online Catalogue of Byzantine Coins

Lazy Summer Days in the Garden

While away an afternoon at Lovers' Lane



Searching for a shady spot to beat the summer heat? The Lovers’ Lane area of the garden features a brick amphitheater where you can sit and gaze at a shallow pool, with bordering bamboo keeping you cool and refreshed. Garden designer Beatrix Farrand modeled the seating area on the theater at the Accademia degli Arcadi’s Bosco Parrasio in Rome, the home of the literary society of the Arcadians. Baroque stone columns and a statue of a pipe-playing Pan complement the scene. Lucky visitors might even spy a family of ducks floating on Lovers’ Lane Pool! Book tickets to relax alongside the pool and throughout the garden this summer.

Scholars in the Spotlight

Catch up with our recent speakers and their research

Digital Tools and Online Treasures

DC Water Atlas

Ongoing Programs

Special Displays:

Beyond Knotting closes this month, new Asian art installed in A Nobility of Matter, and other special displays. 



On view for a limited time are four exhibits showcasing Pre-Columbian textiles, Byzantine seals and weights, rarely seen Asian art, and new acquisitions to the Ephemera Collection. Beyond Knotting: Wari and Inka Tunics from the Collection presents luxurious tunics from the Andes—some more than 1,000 years old—in conjunction with Written in Knots, examining the relationship between two major components of the Andean woven world. Weights, balances, and a scale the Romans and Byzantines used to ensure accurate transactions in the marketplace are newly installed in a case in the Courtyard Gallery. On the other side of the case, discover an 800-year-old mystery in the first display in more than 30 years solely focused on Byzantine seals from the 17,000-strong Dumbarton Oaks collection. A Nobility of Matter: Asian Art from the Bliss Collection explores Chinese art collected by the cofounders of Dumbarton Oaks, beginning with finely crafted Song dynasty vessels. Piety and Pleasure: Western Travel to the Holy Land uses postcards, posters, magazines, rare books, and more to examine the Western pilgrims, tourists, and scholars who made the Holy Land a popular destination at the turn of the 20th century. 

Upcoming Programs

Announcing the 2019-2020 Fellows and Visiting Scholars

More than 50 researchers from around the world offered residential fellowships



Hailing from a dozen countries and 13 American states, scholars supported by Dumbarton Oaks this year conduct research across Garden and Landscape, Byzantine, and Pre-Columbian studies. The more than 50 fellows and visiting scholars study such areas as late antique Alexandria, marginalized labor in the Andes, and food and landscape at borderlands of Algonquin and Iroquoian territory. Their ranks include inaugural Plant Humanities fellows, who research special collections to discover how plants have shaped human culture, and summer fellows, who this past summer worked on topics ranging from Mexica dance to the architecture of Constantinople. Apply for 2020–2021 fellowships by November 1, including two new Mellon fellowship opportunities in “Democracy and the Urban Landscape: Race, Identity, and Difference”: Urban Landscape Fellowships for relevant researchers and History Teaching Fellowships for faculty instructors. Finally, Dumbarton Oaks offers a number of shorter-term opportunities. Apply by October 1 for One-Month Research Awards (proposed visits between January and June), by November 1 for Project Grants, and at least 60 days before preferred arrival for Short-Term Predoctoral Residencies.

Ornament: Fragments of Byzantine Fashion Opens
Next Week

Exhibition on view September 10

First English Translation of Morel's 1776 Theory of Gardens Now Available

Call for Papers: 55th International Congress of Medieval Studies

Submit by September 15 for our sponsored sessions



Scholars of the Middle Ages east and west are welcome to submit papers for five panels sponsored by Dumbarton Oaks at the 2020 International Congress on Medieval Studies.

• “Inventing the Text: Fictitious Narratives of Composition and Transmission” (cosponsored by the Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library) explores how many medieval texts carefully transmit invented, misleading, or incomplete stories of the circumstances of their own composition and transmission across cultures and time periods.
• “Biblical Storytelling in Verse: Poetic Traditions around Mary from East to West” invites scholars working in Greek, Syriac, and Latin to examine the reception and transformation of Mary, as well as the representation of female speech and action.
• “Christian-Muslim Exchange in Art, Literature, and Science” examines the processes by which Christians and Muslims exchanged ideas, texts, and techniques, and conceptualized those exchanges.
• “Identity and Status in Byzantine Material Culture” considers how objects provide a window on how individuals and groups at all levels understood and presented themselves and their place in society.
• “Topics in Byzantine Numismatics” (cosponsored by the Princeton University Numismatic Collection) invites papers making arguments about or based on evidence from coins, and in doing so complementing and extending other areas of inquiry relevant to Byzantinists and all those who study the medieval world.

Scholars Uncover the Lost History of a Rare Southeast Asian Book

The mystery of the pink pineapple



At the turn of the 19th century, Arab merchants, European travelers, and Malay and Javanese locals intermingled with Chinese and South Asian people in the bustling port cities of the Straits of Malacca. For at least fifty years, this lost world hid silently in the rare book collection of Dumbarton Oaks cofounder Mildred Bliss, tucked away in a large album of pink pineapples, watermelons, rambutans, and other Southeast Asian fruits. Thanks to the Plant Humanities Initiative, a team of intergenerational and interdisciplinary scholars reexamined the volume, solving many of its mysteries and revealing new questions for future research. Read the story of how scientists, historians, digital humanists, curators, and an undergraduate literature student uncovered long-forgotten human narratives by paying attention to plants.

Subscribe Now to Music at Dumbarton Oaks

Enjoy a Summer Day in the Cutting Garden

Butterflies, sunflowers, and zinnias galore



Orange, purple, and gold delight late-summer visitors in the Cutting Garden area of the Kitchen Gardens, where charming European-style flowerbeds meet functional resource. Here, greenhouse specialist Melissa Brizer carefully selects stock to create fresh floral arrangements for scholarly events at Dumbarton Oaks. The array of bright blooms—plus a special protocol to minimize spraying for pest management—also attracts butterflies, bees, and other pollinators. Complementing the scene are 18th-century English lead cisterns, a toolshed with terra-cotta roof, and a goose motif weathervane. Reserve tickets to see the spectacular colors of the Cutting Garden and beyond.

Scholars in the Spotlight

Catch up with our recent speakers and their research

Digital Tools and Online Treasures

The Autograph Letter Collection

Ongoing Programs

Woven Interiors: Furnishing Early Medieval Egypt at The Textile Museum

In the early medieval era, the eastern Mediterranean’s palaces, villas, and sacred spaces were richly decorated with hangings, curtains, and other luxury fabrics. Co-organized with Dumbarton Oaks, Woven Interiors: Furnishing Early Medieval Egypt brings together rarely displayed artworks from the 4th to 12th centuries to reveal how textiles infused warmth and beauty into Egypt’s interiors. This exhibition is at the George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum.

Special Displays:

Chinese cricket container, Holy Land ephemera, mysterious Byzantine seals, and more 



Three exhibits showcase Byzantine seals and weights, new acquisitions to the Ephemera Collection, and finely crafted Asian art. A new rotation of jade, ivory, and mother-of-pearl Asian art from the 17th to 20th centuries is now on display in A Nobility of Matter: Asian Art from the Bliss Collection, with objects ranging from a Qing dynasty cricket container to Japanese scroll weights. In the adjacent galleries, special display Piety and Pleasure: Western Travel to the Holy Land uses postcards, posters, magazines, rare books, and more to examine the Western pilgrims, tourists, and scholars who made the Holy Land a popular destination at the turn of the 20th century. Finally, see a case of weights, balances, and a scale the Romans and Byzantines used to ensure accurate transactions in the marketplace. On the other side of the case, discover an 800-year-old mystery in the first display in more than 30 years solely focused on Byzantine seals from the 17,000-strong Dumbarton Oaks collection.

Upcoming Programs

Catalogue of the Textiles in the Dumbarton Oaks Byzantine Collection

New online resource for Byzantine and early Islamic textiles



Dumbarton Oaks has a long history of collecting and researching textiles, yet its holdings of Byzantine and early Islamic fabrics had never been systematically published. Now, see more than 200 objects in high resolution in a newly-launched online textile catalogue. They include major holdings, such as Hestia Polyolbus, and range in date from the 2nd to the 17th century, emerging from the textile-making traditions of Egypt, Mesopotamia, the Indian subcontinent, and the Byzantine heartlands. Explore downloadable high-resolution images, object descriptions, and expert essays on the context and uses of furnishing textiles. Learn about the history of the catalogue, which has its roots in a 2015 museum conference and nine decades of textile acquisitions.

The release of this catalogue coincides with our current exhibition, Ornament: Fragments of Byzantine Fashion, as well as our collaborative exhibition with the George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum, Woven Interiors: Furnishing Early Medieval Egypt. 

Last Month to Apply for 2020–2021 Fellowships

12 Unusual Seals Acquired for the Byzantine Collection

Visiting expert Father Joachim Cotsonis evaluates the striking imagery



A major new acquisition has strengthened the Byzantine seal collection, already one of the most comprehensive in the world. The 12 lead seals contain underrepresented family names, unexpected early military ranks, and uncommon iconography. From bureaucrats to the deacon of Hagia Sophia to soldiers, they belonged to a wide swath of people and range from the 8th to the 14th or 15th century. Father Joachim (John) Cotsonis, director of the library at the Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Massachusetts, evaluated the new acquisitions and taught students in the Coins & Seals Summer Program about the iconography of Byzantine seals. Discover the new seals and their exquisite designs.

Classic Monographs in Pre-Columbian Studies Available Online

Open access to 35 volumes of Studies in Pre-Columbian Art and Archaeology 



Through its Access Initiative, Dumbarton Oaks aims to make as many of its collections and resources as possible freely available online. The Studies in Pre-Columbian Art and Archaeology series highlights current research drawing on archaeological, art historical, and ethnohistorical approaches to the Pre-Columbian past in Mesoamerica, Central America, and the Andes. Volumes 1–35 are now open access. Titles include Zapotec Hieroglyphic Writing, Classic Maya Place Names, The Burial Theme in Moche Iconography, and Ecology and the Arts in Ancient Panama. Volumes 36–40 are available for purchase in hardcover or digital copy and by subscription via JSTOR.

New UV Filters Protect Historic Garden and Local Wildlife

Small change for big sustainability benefits



Ducks, frogs, toads, birds, dragonflies, and several species of turtle enjoy the watery oases in the gardens, most of which pioneering landscape architect Beatrix Farrand designed and implemented as part of her original plans for the Dumbarton Oaks Garden. Read about four new ultraviolet light filters recently installed in garden fountains to ensure better environmental stewardship and protect wildlife while preserving Farrand’s masterpiece. By conservative estimates, anticipated water savings total more than 280,000 gallons, coupled with a reduction of 500 pounds of chlorine per year. The UV filters only affect single-celled organisms such as algae, allowing for a better habitat for the wildlife frequenting the garden.

Single Tickets On Sale for Music at Dumbarton Oaks

Delight in the Splendor of Chrysanthemums

Historic blooms on view in the garden



Surround yourself with color this autumn: chrysanthemums in shades of peach, pink, yellow, white, orange, and apricot abound in the garden, mixed in with many other kinds of flowers in Fountain Terrace and in the Herbaceous Border. Many of the varieties are historic ones used by pioneering landscape designer Beatrix Farrand and no longer commercially available. As in the world of fashion, plant breeders constantly make new selections and older flower varieties fall out of favor. Our gardeners cultivate these heirloom plants, take cuttings, and grow new generations. Look out for October Glow, Emperor of China, the 1965 variety Bronze Dot, Tanya, Single Apricot, Spider, Seizan, and the 1897 Japanese variety called Sunstone. Reserve tickets to see the chrysanthemums.

Scholars in the Spotlight

Catch up with our recent speakers and their research

Digital Tools and Online Treasures

Dumbarton Oaks Conversations

Ongoing Programs

Ornament: Fragments of Byzantine Fashion 

Visit the new exhibition today

Woven Interiors: Furnishing Early Medieval Egypt at The Textile Museum

In the early medieval era, the eastern Mediterranean’s palaces, villas, and sacred spaces were richly decorated with hangings, curtains, and other luxury fabrics. Co-organized with Dumbarton Oaks, Woven Interiors: Furnishing Early Medieval Egypt brings together rarely displayed artworks from the 4th to 12th centuries to reveal how textiles infused warmth and beauty into Egypt’s interiors. This exhibition is at the George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum.

Special Displays:

Last weeks of Piety and Pleasure: Western Travel to the Holy Land



See postcards, posters, magazines, rare books, and more illuminating the Western pilgrims, tourists, and scholars who made the Holy Land a popular destination at the turn of the 20th century. Piety and Pleasure: Western Travel to the Holy Land is slated to close October 21. Meanwhile, in a nearby case, examine jade, ivory, and mother-of-pearl Asian art from the 17th to 20th centuries in A Nobility of Matter: Asian Art from the Bliss Collection, with objects ranging from a Qing dynasty cricket container to Japanese scroll weights. Finally, visit our special display of weights, balances, and a scale the Romans and Byzantines used to ensure accurate transactions in the marketplace. On the reverse of the display, discover an 800-year-old mystery from the 17,000-strong Dumbarton Oaks Byzantine seal collection.

Upcoming Programs

The Insular Worlds of Byzantium

Register now for the November 15 Byzantine Studies Colloquium



Byzantine islands have largely been considered marginal to the dramatic political, social, and economic changes the Byzantine heartland experienced in the seventh century and at the onset of Arab expansion in the eastern Mediterranean. “The Insular Worlds of Byzantium” provides new and revised perspectives on the Byzantine Mediterranean and beyond. The exploration of islands as hubs where Byzantine, Islamic, and Western European cultures encountered and influenced the local political, economic, and social structures permits new insights into the networks of island societies and their legacies. Not only were islands located along commercial shipping routes, but, as spaces of adaptive economic activities and social strategies that were molded by military and political realities, they presented unique opportunities for cultural interconnections. Register to attend the November 15 Byzantine Studies Colloquium.

Catch Pop-Up Concerts in the Museum this Month

Nearly 6,000 Pages of Rare Books and Materials to be Digitized

Making 500 years of history accessible



Go behind the scenes as librarians use keen eyes and sharp knives to prepare more than 300 objects from the Garden and Landscape, Byzantine, and Pre-Columbian collections for digitization. As part of the Access Initiative, we seek to digitize as many of the Dumbarton Oaks holdings as possible. Digitization efforts prioritize those materials that are one of a kind, largely unavailable to scholars, and particularly useful for research. Creating high-quality zoomable images of a fragile colonial Mexican legal document or a garden design measuring 7.5 feet takes much physical labor and many pieces of foam. Learn about the steps taken to conserve and share these rich resources.

Visit the Renovated Arbor Terrace

New winter hours and free garden admission



Now through March 14, visit the Dumbarton Oaks Garden free of charge. Stroll through autumn colors around Arbor Terrace, recently reopened after weeks of renovation to its stone patio. First envisioned by groundbreaking landscape designer Beatrix Farrand and Dumbarton Oaks co-founder Mildred Bliss as an herb garden, Arbor Terrace has undergone many changes in the last 80 years, including hosting a reflecting pool and 10,000 Swarovski crystals for contemporary art installation Cloud Terrace. But as the years went by, stones in the patio settled unevenly. To improve access and safety, the patio was regraded to allow for better drainage while reusing all the original stone. Visitors are now welcome to stroll beneath the iconic arbor and thriving wisteria plants. Winter hours in the garden are 2–5 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday, with closures for some holidays and hazardous conditions.

Scholars in the Spotlight

Catch up with our recent speakers and their research

Digital Tools and Online Treasures

Studies in Pre-Columbian Art and Archaeology

Ongoing Programs

Ornament: Fragments of Byzantine Fashion 

Visit the new exhibition today

Woven Interiors: Furnishing Early Medieval Egypt at The Textile Museum

In the early medieval era, the eastern Mediterranean’s palaces, villas, and sacred spaces were richly decorated with hangings, curtains, and other luxury fabrics. Co-organized with Dumbarton Oaks, Woven Interiors: Furnishing Early Medieval Egypt brings together rarely displayed artworks from the 4th to 12th centuries to reveal how textiles infused warmth and beauty into Egypt’s interiors. This exhibition is at the George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum.

Special Displays:

Asian art objects, Roman and Byzantine economic tools



Visit the first exhibit in more than 30 years focused solely on Byzantine seals from the 17,000-strong Dumbarton Oaks collection. The display reveals how researchers played detective to solve an 800-year-old mystery involving a broken seal and a mysterious and powerful person from the twelfth century. On the reverse of the case, examine weights, balances, and a scale the Romans and Byzantines used to ensure accurate transactions in the marketplace. Nearby and for a limited time, see jade, ivory, and mother-of-pearl Asian art from the seventeenth to twentieth centuries in A Nobility of Matter: Asian Art from the Bliss Collection, with objects ranging from a Qing dynasty cricket container to Japanese scroll weights.

Upcoming Programs

Last month of Ornament: Fragments of Byzantine Fashion

Explore a lost world now through January 5

Excavations in the nineteenth century unearthed scores of the ornate dress textiles that wrapped the people of medieval Egypt in their graves. Temporary exhibition Ornament: Fragments of Byzantine Fashion brings together complete tunics, parts of garments, and contemporary replicas of ancient dress to evoke the fashions of this lost world. Ornament is the largest exhibition of the rare Byzantine textiles held by Dumbarton Oaks, showcasing close to 60 pieces. These textiles often preserve traces of their wearers in the form of folds and stains, providing researchers important information about the people buried in these garments. With their spectacular range of colors, patterns, and ornamental motifs, the textiles display the remarkable skill of ancient craftspeople and a compellingly modern aesthetic.

Visit Woven Interiors: Furnishing Early Medieval Europe at The Textile Museum

Just one month left to see the exhibition 


In the early medieval era, the eastern Mediterranean’s palaces, villas, and sacred spaces were richly decorated with hangings, curtains, and other luxury fabrics. Co-organized with Dumbarton Oaks, Woven Interiors: Furnishing Early Medieval Egypt brings together rarely displayed art from the fourth through twelfth centuries to reveal how textiles infused warmth and beauty into Egypt’s interiors. This exhibition is at the George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum.

Start Your Holiday Shopping at the Museum Shop

New and festive merchandise available

Find the perfect gifts in our Museum Shop. Golden picture frames, warm candles to enhance hygge or simply add peaceful ambience, beaded Christmas ornaments, and much more are now on offer. A new festive silvery jewelry tree provides tasteful storage solutions. Scarves abound in a panoply of patterns: from elegant wraps in red, magenta, or olive green to cozy knitted blanket scarves, there is something for everyone. Take home a memory of your favorite museum artifacts with custom replica jewelry, including a new Pre-Columbian frog pendant and Byzantine brooches and earrings. Browse the extensive and eclectic collection of home goods, stationery, jewelry, accessories, and other gifts this holiday season. 

Three New Publications in the Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library

Enjoy a Restful Afternoon in the Urn Terrace

Recently restored to reflect garden design by Beatrix Farrand



When American landscape architecture pioneer Beatrix Farrand designed the Urn Terrace, she hoped to create a place of respite on a steep hill with many steps. The simple garden room featured English boxwood and a carved stone reproduction of an eighteenth-century French terra-cotta vase. In the following decades, the boxwood was swapped out for English ivy (now considered an invasive species) and the groundcover replaced with grass, among other changes. This October, garden staff restored several elements of Farrand’s design vision for the Urn Terrace. In a trial that may expand to other garden areas, a disease-resistant cultivar of boxwood has taken the place of ivy. Noninvasive Mazus reptans, a charming groundcover native to the Himalayas, fills the central panels, and locally produced compost has improved soil health. Take a pause in your day and see the restoration at the Dumbarton Oaks Garden, free of charge 2–5 p.m., Tuesdays through Sundays, until March 14.

Scholars in the Spotlight

Catch up with our recent speakers and their research

Digital Tools and Online Treasures

Online Catalogue of Byzantine Coins

Upcoming Programs

Apply for Bliss Awards by January 31

Student travel grants to the 2020 Byzantine Studies symposium



Currently enrolled undergraduate and graduate students are encouraged to apply for Bliss Symposium Awards, which support attendance at our annual symposia. Apply by January 31 to attend “Byzantine Missions: Meaning, Nature, and Extent,” the spring Byzantine Studies symposium, being held April 24–25. The history of Christian missions has received little attention in recent scholarship. The symposium aims to illuminate the inner motives that characterized Byzantine missions, the changing incentives that inspired them, and the nature of their missionary activity; and ultimately to better understand how the Byzantines perceived the universal claims of their empire and their church. At the same time, the organizers hope to throw light on the broader religious dynamics of the medieval world.

Byzantine Greek Summer School Provides Intense Language Training

Applications due February 1



Study medieval Greek intensively for four weeks this summer at Dumbarton Oaks. Students also receive an introduction to paleography and Byzantine book culture, study inscribed objects in the Byzantine Collection, and view facsimiles of manuscripts in the Rare Book Collection. Priority goes to applicants without ready access to similar courses at local or regional institutions. No tuition fees are charged, and successful candidates from outside the Washington, DC, area are provided housing at no cost and lunch on weekdays. Apply now for the Byzantine Greek Summer School, held June 19–July 24.

Dumbarton Oaks Funds Syriac and Armenian Summer School

Applications to Harvard Internships and Humanities Fellowships Due February 1

Applications Open for the Plant Humanities Summer Program

Study the cultural histories of plants



Join a fully funded four-week summer program focused on the interdisciplinary study of plants, their global travels, and the myriad ways they have shaped human culture. Participants attend seminars and lectures, visit The Oak Spring Garden Foundation, the United States Botanic Garden, the Smithsonian Herbarium, and other sites, and engage with an open-access digital tool being developed in collaboration with JSTOR Labs. The program is offered in the context of the Dumbarton Oaks and JSTOR Labs Plant Humanities Initiative, funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Applicants with special interests in the fields of history of science, environmental studies, digital humanities, art history, and/or botany are given priority, but we also welcome candidates who seek to develop new skills in the digital humanities or the use of special collections. Graduate students and advanced undergraduates may apply by February 28 for the Plant Humanities Summer Program.

Reflecting on Landscapes of Enslavement

Mellon award recipients discuss the 2019 Garden and Landscape Studies colloquium



Held this fall, the colloquium “Interpreting Landscapes of Enslavement” examined strategies for revealing and interpreting histories of slavery and the legacies of racial injustice that are slavery’s aftermath as they are found in the landscapes of eastern North America. Five Mellon Conference Award recipients—all graduate and undergraduate students of landscape architecture, architecture, and the constructed environment—share their reflections. “As an aspiring landscape architect, I gained . . . a timely reminder of the great responsibility inherent in any modification of the landscape,” wrote one award recipient from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Another wrote that “the presentations highlighted the myriad complications that arise within institutions that simultaneously protect their legacies and missions, and answer to demands to examine their histories.”

Encore from an Early-Career Musician in Residence

Stroll the Garden Paths with a Friend

Explore a restored stone walkway in the Forsythia Dell



Enjoy a little-known and picturesque corner of our garden thanks to recent restoration of a meandering stone footpath. The walkway traverses the Forsythia Dell, passes a pebble-and-stone patio with the beloved “Two Friends Benches,” and finally leads to the west edge of Cherry Hill. Made from mica and schist, the path settled over the years, making it difficult for visitors to use. Longtime stonemason John Allen Pond Jr. reconfigured the walkway base to prevent further settling, cut new edges on many stones, and brought in about three tons of matching mica-schist from local quarries. Two months of work later, the walkway has been fully restored, including improved stepping stones to the “Two Friends Benches”—perfect for resting with a companion after a long stroll. Wander the many pathways of the Dumbarton Oaks Garden free of charge 2–5 p.m., Tuesdays through Sundays, until March 14.

Scholars in the Spotlight

Catch up with our recent speakers and their research

Digital Tools and Online Treasures

Philip Johnson at Dumbarton Oaks

Ongoing Programs

Special Displays:

Asian art objects, Roman and Byzantine economic tools



Visit the first exhibit in more than 30 years focused solely on Byzantine seals from the 17,000-strong Dumbarton Oaks collection. The display case reveals how researchers played detective to solve an 800-year-old mystery involving a broken seal and a mysterious and powerful person from the twelfth century. On the reverse of the case, examine weights, balances, and a scale the Romans and Byzantines used to ensure accurate transactions in the marketplace. Nearby and for a limited time, see jade, ivory, and mother-of-pearl Asian art from the seventeenth to twentieth centuries in A Nobility of Matter: Asian Art from the Bliss Collection, with objects ranging from a Qing dynasty cricket container to Japanese scroll weights.

Upcoming Programs

Apply by March 1 for One-Month Research Awards

Funding and access to the resources of Dumbarton Oaks



Spend one month between July 1 and December 20, 2020, immersed in the library, rare book collection, garden, and museum resources as well as the vibrant intellectual community of our research institute. One-Month Research Awards are intended especially for scholars who might not be able to avail themselves of a longer-term fellowship or who work in related disciplines and seek greater exposure to our fields of study: Byzantine, Pre-Columbian, and garden and
landscape studies. Those holding a PhD or other relevant terminal degree (e.g., MLA for
garden and landscape studies applicants) are eligible to apply by March 1.

Last Chance to Apply for Syriac and Armenian Summer School

Funded by Dumbarton Oaks and offered in collaboration with the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library



Apply by February 15 for the intensive courses Intermediate Syriac or Introduction to Classical Armenian this summer, hosted at the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library (HMML) in Collegeville, Minnesota. Dumbarton Oaks covers costs for tuition, housing, and meals. The courses include morning and afternoon sessions, guest lectures, and an introduction to paleography. Doctoral candidates or recent PhD recipients who can demonstrate the need for either language in their research are invited to apply. The 2020 Syriac and Armenian Summer School is July 13–August 7.

Study the Cultural Histories of Plants in the Plant Humanities Summer Program

Applications Open to the Garden and Landscape Studies Graduate Workshop

Favorite Treasures Return This Month to the Courtyard and Textile Galleries

More than 2,000 years of history on display



Beloved works from the ancient art collection acquired by Mildred and Robert Bliss go on view in the museum this month. Spanning from Hellenistic Greece to imperial Rome, the collection contains many pieces of distinction, such as the Romano-Arabian bronze statue of a rearing horse (back from loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York), the purple marble porphyry head of a Roman emperor, and Greek bronze statuettes that date as far back as the fifth century BCE. Stunning Byzantine jewelry in gold, sapphire, pearls, and rock crystal are also displayed. Meanwhile, in the Textile Gallery, encounter treasures from the Pre-Columbian collection, including several feathered pieces from Peru, intricate Wari tunics and looped hats, and mummy masks more than 2,000 years old.

Digging into DOML

Dumbarton Oaks by the Numbers

Over 16,000 bulbs planted this year

New Life for an Old Tree

Meet the reclaimed cedar staircases in our Garden



Find renewed beauty in quiet corners of the garden. Mélisande's Allée and the far side of Crabapple Hill now sport fresh cedar stairs made from a tree grown right here on the Dumbarton Oaks grounds. In 2018, one of the mature deodar cedars (Cedrus deodara) flanking the western edge of the property suffered storm damage, leaving the tree structurally unsound. After it was removed, a large section of trunk was retained, and Cecil Smith, owner of a local company, milled it into several sturdy timbers and slabs. Now the cedar returns to the grounds, its tawny wood rebuilding worn-down stairs so they can last for many years to come. Gardeners were pleased to find a sustainable alternative to importing out-of-state timbers while also reducing garden waste and costs. Use the new stairs to traverse Beatrix Farrand’s terraced masterpiece, the Dumbarton Oaks Garden, free of charge through March 14, 2–5 p.m., Tuesdays through Sundays.

Scholars in the Spotlight

Catch up with our recent speakers and their research

Digital Tools and Online Treasures

Ephemera Collection

Ongoing Programs

Special Displays:

Roman and Byzantine economic tools and final weeks to see Asian art objects



See jade, ivory, and mother-of-pearl Asian art from the seventeenth to twentieth centuries in A Nobility of Matter: Asian Art from the Bliss Collection, with objects ranging from a Qing dynasty cricket container to Japanese scroll weights. Soon the objects will be removed from display to make way for a new temporary exhibition, so see these examples of finely crafted domestic goods while you still can. Meanwhile, in a nearby case, visit the first exhibit in more than 30 years focused solely on Byzantine seals from the 17,000-strong Dumbarton Oaks collection. The display reveals how researchers played detective to solve an 800-year-old mystery involving a broken seal and a mysterious and powerful person from the twelfth century. On the reverse of the case, examine weights, balances, and a scale the Romans and Byzantines used to ensure accurate transactions in the marketplace.

Upcoming Programs

As a public health precaution, the museum and garden are closed and Dumbarton Oaks has canceled all public events through the end of July. In the meantime, explore open-access art, books, and summer programming, as well as our many digital tools and online treasures.

Call for Papers -Land Back: Indigenous Landscapes of Resurgence and Freedom

Submissions due August 1

The violent disruption of land relations is a defining feature of colonialism and imperialism; colonial governments have territorialized Indigenous lands and bodies and undermined Indigenous political authority through gendered and racialized hierarchies of difference. Consequently, Indigenous resistance and visions for justice and liberation are bound up with land and land-body relationships that challenge colonial power. "Land back" has become a slogan for Indigenous land protectors. The 2021 Garden and Landscape Studies symposium, Land Back: Indigenous Landscapes of Resurgence and Freedom, aims to highlight the many ways Indigenous peoples understand and practice land relations for political resurgence and freedom across the Americas. Symposiarchs Michelle Daigle and Heather Dorries, faculty in the Department of Geography & Planning and Centre for Indigenous Studies at the University of Toronto, seek papers from emerging and established scholars, artists, community organizers, and design and planning practitioners that highlight how Indigenous peoples are reconceptualizing land relations to renew Indigenous environmental knowledge. Learn more and submit an abstract and curriculum vitae by August 1.

Only Complete English Translation of Eriugena''s Magnum Opus Back in Print

Discover the book with our Byzantine Studies librarian

The Periphyseon ("on nature"), or De divisione naturae as it is also known, is the masterwork of John Scotus Eriugena, the leading intellectual figure at the Carolingian court of Charles the Bald in the ninth century. John O'Meara's translation, first published in 1987 and still the only complete English translation of this lengthy work, has long been extremely scarce; its recent reprinting will be warmly welcomed by scholars and students alike. (To celebrate the release of Eriugena's classic in paperback, get a $5 discount with coupon code PER5 if you order by August 15.)

Learn more about the book with an overview by Byzantine Studies Librarian Joshua Robinson. In a time when few in the Latin West could boast a knowledge of Greek, Eriugena distinguished himself by his acquaintance with several important Greek Fathers, most notably Gregory of Nyssa, Dionysius the Areopagite, and Maximos the Confessor. The Periphyseon is a bridge between Greek and Latin theological and philosophical currents that complements other volumes in the Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library, including Maximos's Ambigua, John Magee's edition and translation of Calcidius's On Plato's Timaeus, and volumes on Bernardus Silvestris and Alan of Lille.

Four Recently Acquired Lead Seals Illuminate Byzantine Lives and Fill Collection Gaps

Horseman, soldier, poet, prince

Four new lead seals have joined the renowned 17,000-strong Dumbarton Oaks collection, commissioned by a cross section of Byzantine characters: an imperial eunuch, two Armenian soldiers, and a man petitioning Saint Nicholas with a poem. In the Byzantine world, seals secured legal documents (such as wills, sales of land, and decisions of judges), official dispatches, bags of gold, and much else, while calling on the protection of divine intercessors. Go behind the scenes with Associate Curator of Coins and Seals Jonathan Shea to discover what makes each new acquisition so rare. The seals feature the possible portrait of a horseback-riding servant, underrepresented family names in the collection, a famed military leader, hints about life in the Byzantine provinces, an Armenian prince flaunting his Turkish and Byzantine titles, and an uncommon metrical poem.

See Remarkable Ancient Statues, Jewelry, and Art Online

Ancient Art at Dumbarton Oaks

Art from the ancient Mediterranean represents a small but significant part of the Dumbarton Oaks collection. When viewed alongside Byzantine art, these works offer an opportunity to consider the continuities and changes in artistic production from the classical to the medieval period. The new online exhibit Ancient Art at Dumbarton Oaks comprises a selection of ancient and late antique art in the Byzantine Collection, the majority acquired from prominent antique dealers such as Joseph Brummer. The documentation of the collection's provenance provides a look into the world of early twentieth-century collecting. The online collection features many pieces of distinction, such as the Romano-Arabian bronze statue of a rearing horse, the purple porphyry head of a Roman emperor, Greek bronze statuettes that date back as far as the fifth century BCE, and stunning Byzantine jewelry in gold, sapphire, pearls, and rock crystal. The exhibit was coordinated by Elizabeth Dospel Williams, associate curator of the Byzantine collection, and Tyler fellow Kelsey Eldridge.

Browse Dumbarton Oaks Books at the Virtual International Medieval Congress

Receive a 20% discount until the end of July

Wander the virtual exhibits of the International Medieval Congress and receive a special discount (plus free shipping to the US and Canada) on Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library facing-page translations, works on the mosaics of Hagia Sophia and the Byzantine world, medievalist picture and coloring books, and other titles. Saints of Ninth- and Tenth-Century Greece, Two Works on Trebizond, Medieval Latin Lives of Muhammad, and Holy Men of Mount Athos are just some of the Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library volumes available. For those interested in adding to home libraries, explore works of scholarship such as The New Testament in Byzantium, Visualizing Community: Art, Material Culture, and Settlement in Byzantine Cappadocia, and Justinianic Mosaics of Hagia Sophia and Their Aftermath. Delight young ones and the young at heart with a collection of illustrated books (and one coloring book) inspired by the medieval tale of a miraculous juggler, including The Little Juggler by iconic author and illustrator Barbara Cooney.

Order Favorite Dumbarton Oaks Titles in Paperback

Buy any book this month and receive a second at half price

Stock up for summer reading and research with our foundational scholarly works and classic translations in paperback. Now through July 31, order any book and receive a second (of equal or lesser value) 50% off with coupon code READSUM50. Newly released titles like the Periphyseon, Private Religious Foundations in the Byzantine Empire, and People and Power in Byzantium are included, as are important scholarly works such as Byzantium and the Arabs by Irfan Shah?d (available as individual volumes or as a set). Explore critical editions of Byzantine Greek works of historiography and narrative texts with historical value in Dumbarton Oaks Texts, a subset of the international series Corpus Fontium Historiae Byzantinae (CFHB). Pre-Columbianists may be interested in three edited volumes by esteemed art historian Elizabeth P. Benson on Chav?n, death and the afterlife, and the cult of the feline.

Reflections on Urban Landscape History

Virtual 2020 Garden and Landscape Studies Graduate Workshop

The Garden and Landscape Studies Graduate Workshop went virtual this spring, bringing nine graduate students from design and the humanities together to explore the methods, approaches, and frameworks for research and scholarship in urban landscape history. Remarkable scholars joined to share how they engage in research and develop their scholarship around questions of race, gender, class, preservation, and art, among other topics, as manifested in the urban landscape. While the group was not able to meet on the Dumbarton Oaks campus, the workshop used digital tools to explore, engage, and generate discussions that are likely to catalyze important research and teaching in the future. The workshop is supported by the Mellon Initiative in Urban Landscape Studies.

Summer Distance Learning Materials for Families, Teachers, and Students

New ecology pencil topper tutorial

Families, teachers, and students can find resources on our website (scroll down to see the full list) to supplement distance learning over the summer. Newly available is a tutorial that teaches grade 4-12 students about the Heliconia plant and the process of pollination while they craft a flower pencil topper. Delve deeper into the plant-bird relationship with a complementary tutorial for making a stunning hummingbird mobile out of paper, along with reading material from scientist and artist Amy Lamb. Teachers planning curricula for next year may want to examine our ecosystem lesson plan for middle and high school, as well as a sample AP World History Document-Based Question (DBQ), with grading rubric and tips. Finally, bring art into your home with our botanical art coloring sheets and Zoom and Webex backgrounds. Check the website for future additions to educational materials.

Landmark Works in Byzantine and Pre-Columbian Studies Freely Available

Experts recommend favorites from our open-access publications

Expand your library with free downloadable PDFs of classic texts and works of scholarship. Managing Editor of Byzantine Studies Colin Whiting recommends Holy Women of Byzantium: Ten Saints' Lives in English Translation (ed. Alice-Mary Talbot) as "exciting, important narratives translated by a true master." Byzantine Magic (ed. Henry Maguire) presents "a fascinating subject, though somehow still understudied. We are hoping to change that!" For those unsure about wandering into the Catalogue of Late Roman Coins in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection and in the Whittemore Collection: From Arcadius and Honorius to the Accession of Anastasius (Melinda Mays, Philip Grierson), "late antique coinage only sounds dry," Whiting assures. "It's a body of material with surprising depth."
 
Pre-Columbian Studies Librarian Flora Lindsay-Herrera suggests The Origins of Chav?n Culture (Chiaki Kano) to "explore archaeological findings that shed light on this Andean pre-Inca culture." Try Classic Maya Place Names (David Stuart, Stephen D. Houston), says Lindsay-Herrera, and "let two esteemed epigraphers take you on a tour of Maya glyphs." For those interested in delving deep into visual art, "learn about animal symbolism through the delicate artistry of Ecuadorian spindle whorls" in The Thread of Life: Symbolism of Miniature Art from Ecuador (Johannes Wilbert). Or "take a close look at this Olmec figure as part of a virtual museum visit" through An Olmec Figure at Dumbarton Oaks (Elizabeth P. Benson).

Dumbarton Oaks by the Numbers

Close to 10,000 visitors to online exhibits in recent months

While the museum has been closed as a public health precaution, nearly 10,000 visitors have frequented Dumbarton Oaks' online exhibits. More than 1,000 people visited Margaret Mee: Portraits of Plants, while hundreds explored each of the next most popular exhibits: The Ancient Future: Mesoamerican and Andean Timekeeping, The Byzantine Emperors on Coins, and The Botany of Empire in the Long Eighteenth Century.

Plant Spotting Around DC

Enjoy or grow favorites from our garden in your neighborhood

At the height of summer, the Herbaceous Borders beckon: a hundred-foot pathway lined with green, pink, and purple flora, bookended by two yew trees. Stroll the borders virtually in our garden video tour, or try growing several of these summer delights in your own home. The well-behaved perennial catmint (Nepeta racemosa 'Walker's Low') rewards you with recurrent blooms all summer if lightly deadheaded and will not take over your border. It prefers low sun and is salt-tolerant, so serves nicely for walkway edges. Looking for texture and drama? The cardoon (Cynara cardunculus) creates architectural interest with its large spiny silver leaves, and by the time it reaches two years old, its late summer flowers call to mind a close relative, the globe artichoke (Cynara scolymus). Hailing from the south-central United States, the bluestar (Amsonia hubrichtii) provides wonderful lacy texture throughout the season, plus delicate blue flowers in spring and blazing golden color in fall. Choose a planting spot with full sun to part shade and well-drained soil. Finally, for true no-fuss planting, turn to the false spirea (Astilbe ? arendsii)-a workhorse perennial that flourishes in sun or shade; offers abundant cultivars with many colors, forms, and heights; and rewards you with long-lasting summer blooms throughout June and into July.

Scholars in the Spotlight

Catch up on the research of fellows and visiting scholars

Loa Traxler discusses finding ancient kings of Copan, synthesizing what years of field investigations have revealed about the founding of a Maya kingdom, the Classic Maya world, and interactions with Teotihuacan. Traxler is associate professor of anthropology and director of museum studies at the University of New Mexico.

James Almeida studies enslavement, racial ideology, and labor history in the Andes-focusing on a colonial silver mint in Potos?-and at the Dumbarton Oaks property. Almeida is a PhD candidate in history at Harvard University.

Robyn Bollinger revives the macabre rock star Paganini, "The Hot Canary," and other touchstones of an indulgent musical tradition: the encore. Bollinger is a violinist and the fall 2020 Early-Career Musician Resident.

W. Sasson Chahanovich examines early modern Armageddon, exploring how the conquest of Constantinople kickstarted Ottoman enthusiasm for the end-times. Chahanovich is a PhD candidate in Near Eastern languages and civilizations at Harvard University.

H?l?na Rochard challenges the stereotype of the solitude and isolation of Egyptian monasteries by reassessing Bawit, which contains one of the largest corpora of monastic wall paintings from early Byzantium. Rochard is collection manager of the Christian and Byzantine Collection of the ?cole Pratique des Hautes ?tudes and lecturer at the ?cole du Louvre.

Michael McCormick talks ancient pandemics and climate change, proposing a new day in the discovery of ancient and medieval civilization by combining science, archaeology, and history. McCormick is Francis Goelet Professor of Medieval History and chair of the Initiative for the Science of the Human Past (SoHP) at Harvard University.

On View Online

Discover the Dumbarton Oaks collections from anywhere

Margaret Mee: Portraits of Plants

Discover stunning paintings of Amazonian flora by artist, explorer, and environmentalist Margaret Mee?(1909-1988) and explore the longstanding tradition of women botanical artists and illustrators in online exhibit Margaret Mee: Portraits of Plants. Browse zoomable images and descriptions of stunning Mee plant portraits, highlights from the Rare Book Collection, loaned works, and more. New digital tools build connections between the geographies and histories of featured artists and illustrators, such as Mee, contemporary photographer Amy Lamb, scientific illustrator Alice Tangerini, botanical artist Nirupa Rao, and close to a dozen other women from the seventeenth century onward. Explore how women artists were visualizing knowledge for several centuries with an interactive timeline, and discover mixed media that challenge the boundaries between art and illustration into the present day. Finally, consider Amazonian entanglements linking conservation and art via an interactive map of Mee's expeditions in the Amazon. Learn more from additional resources such as a series of essays, interviews, a glossary, a timeline of Mee's life, and further reading.

The Byzantine Emperors on Coins

Meet 127 Byzantine emperors-and a few usurpers-in an online exhibit curated from the Byzantine coin collection, one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Gold coins reflected the glory of Byzantium and its rulers for a millennium. The Byzantine Emperors on Coins presents the most widespread medium for the dissemination of a ruler's portrait to his or her subjects and beyond the empire's frontier. The coins in the online exhibit suggest major changes affected Byzantine coinage. For example, the viewer can follow growing evidence of Christian themes and symbols and the development from a realistic portrait type (characteristic of Roman art and coinage) to a more idealized and highly stylized representation of the ruler. Explore six chronological sections that reveal the unfolding of imperial rule.

Online Resources at Dumbarton Oaks

Dumbarton Oaks is dedicated to making its research and scholarship accessible to everyone, which is why many of our collections are available online. We invite you to explore our rich selection of digital material. For even more content, follow us on social media or visit our website. 

Experience the Beauty of the Dumbarton Oaks Garden from Your Home

Garden Virtual Tour

The Garden Virtual Tour transports you to the East Lawn under a blanket of snow, the North Vista with fall foliage, or Cherry Hill carpeted with white petals, all without leaving home! Historic photographs and design plans show how the Garden has changed over time.

Explore How Art and Science Come Together in the Work of Women Botanical Artists from the Rare Book Collection

Margaret Mee: Portraits of Plants 

Margaret Mee: Portraits of Plants features beautiful watercolors of Amazonian flora by the artist, explorer, and environmentalist Margaret Mee, in conversation with works by women botanical artists and illustrators from the seventeenth century to the present.

Discover the Nexus of Cultural Institutions in the Nation's Capital

Mapping Cultural Philanthropy

Mapping Cultural Philanthropy: Donors and Cultural Institutions in the Nation's Capital chronicles the history of the philanthropy that helped create cultural institutions in the DC area. Learn how the region came to be a hub of museums, concert halls, historic homes, and theaters.

Learn About the Materials, Uses, and Contexts of Remarkable Byzantine and Islamic Textiles in Our Collection

Textiles in the Byzantine Collection

These textiles offer a glimpse into ancient cultures and the daily lives of those in these now lost worlds. The Catalogue of the Textiles in the Dumbarton Oaks Byzantine Collection contains over 260 objects, accompanied by ten essays by leading textile scholars.

Stay Connected with Dumbarton Oaks

Announcing the 2020-2021 Fellowship Cohort

Supporting close to 50 fellows and visiting scholars from around the world

Hailing from more than a dozen places-American states and countries around the globe-scholars supported by Dumbarton Oaks this year work across Garden and Landscape, Byzantine, and Pre-Columbian Studies. The nearly 50 fellows and visiting scholars investigate such areas as the cultural history of medieval Armenia, nonelite craftspeople in the Maya world, and Indigenous land dispossession. Their ranks include Mellon fellows in Urban Landscape Studies, who study the history and future of urban landscapes through the lenses of democracy, race, identity, and difference, and Plant Humanities fellows, who research special collections to discover how plants have shaped human culture. Two fall Early-Career Musicians are working on new compositions to traverse a broad range of emotionally expressive harmonies and celebrate the life of literary genius Toni Morrison.

Apply for Fellowships and Grants

Applications for 2021-2022 now open

A number of opportunities are now available to support research and learning internationally in Byzantine, Garden and Landscape, and Pre-Columbian studies. Apply for 2021-2022 fellowships and project grants by November 1. Awarded for an academic year or a semester, research fellowships are available to scholars in our three areas of study with a terminal degree (fellowships) or to degree candidates who have fulfilled all preliminary requirements for a terminal degree (junior fellowships). Project grants generally support archaeological research, preservation of historic gardens, and the recovery, recording, and analysis of materials that would otherwise be lost. They are available to applicants holding a PhD or the equivalent. Apply by December 1 for opportunities in our Mellon-funded initiative, "Democracy and the Urban Landscape: Race, Identity, and Difference." Mellon Fellowships in Urban Landscape Studies are for cross-disciplinary scholars (PhD or MLA preference), and Mellon History Teaching Fellowships are for current faculty members in universities or other secondary educational institutions.

Hagia Sophia: The History of the Building and the Building in History

Digitized resources related to Hagia Sophia and a recent webinar

Scholars who have actively promoted research on Hagia Sophia joined in a webinar on September 1 to cover historical facts, Dumbarton Oaks' involvement, and the issues related to the recent reconversion of the monument. Ioli Kalavrezou, Robert Nelson, Bissera Pentcheva, and Tugba Tanveri-Erdemir participated, with discussion moderated by Elizabeth Bolman. "It was exciting to bring together academics and viewers from around the world to consider the long history of the Hagia Sophia, as well as the significance of its recent reconversion, from a scholarly perspective" said Anna Stavrakopoulou, resident program director for Byzantine Studies. Explore the history of Hagia Sophia through a rich digitized collection, including archival resources, rare books, lead seals, books and publications, and online exhibits. Dumbarton Oaks holds extensive documentation of the monument's restoration throughout the 1930s and 1940s, as well as an architectural survey of Hagia Sophia conducted from the late 1930s to the 1980s. Browse photographs, fieldwork notebooks, films, and other documents. A number of lead seals dating from between the seventh and fourteenth centuries attest officials at Hagia Sophia, the best-known of all Byzantine churches. Delve into scholarship on medieval travelers to Constantinople as well as the mosaics at the church.

Rethinking Byzantine Masculinities: Gender, Sexuality, Emotions, Devotion

Register for a conversation with scholars across the globe

For the past five decades, Byzantinists have explored gender and sexuality. More recent work has turned to gendered emotions and religious devotion. While much of this research has its origin in women's history, there has been an increasing interest in men, including monks and eunuchs, and in the articulations and performances of masculinity. Register to join a conversation with four scholars who have actively promoted this research, reflecting on their work and its evolving academic and nonacademic contexts. Claudia Rapp (University of Vienna and Austrian Academy of Sciences) and Derek Krueger (University of North Carolina at Greensboro) organized the webinar, which is free.

Scholars in the Spotlight

Catch up on the research of fellows and visiting scholars

Jakub Kabala considers the Slavonic language beyond Byzantium, looking at papal traces in the language of an iconic medieval Christian mission to the Slavs. Kabala is James B. Duke Pre-Tenure Professor of Digital Studies and History at Davidson College.
 
Iyaxel Cojti Ren tracks the emergence of the ancient Kaqchikel polity in the Guatemalan highlands during the Late Postclassic period. Cojti Ren is postdoctoral fellow in Pre-Columbian art and archaeology.
 
Alasdair Grant traces the enormous Byzantine diaspora, exploding the geography of the Late Byzantine world by studying the lives of captive and enslaved Greeks. Grant submitted his PhD at the University of Edinburgh in June.
 
Michelle Young discusses cults, cacti, and Chav?n, reconstructing ancient rituals and revealing the long-distance connections in ancient Peru. Young is adjunct faculty in history and art history at George Mason University.
 
Anthony Kaldellis introduces a new history of Byzantium, rethinking a thousand years of history from the Persian occupation to Byzantine society as the law in motion. Kaldellis is professor and chair of classics at The Ohio State University.

Garden Launches Multiyear Project to Manage Invasive Plants

Supporting native animals and reducing insecticide needs without disturbing iconic designs

Gardeners at Dumbarton Oaks are embarking on a multiyear phased effort to manage invasive plants both planted and indicated in designs by Beatrix Farrand, as well as those that have shown up uninvited. While only the astute observer is likely to notice, native animals will certainly benefit. The goal of the project is to encourage the growth of native plants that support local animals, reduce the need for insecticides, and improve plant health. In the spring, the team completed a significant phase of this plan along the east end of the garden: gardeners encouraged the growth of native species along M?lisande's All?e with minimal disturbance to the intimacy and privacy of the garden area. Learn more from Director of Gardens and Grounds Jonathan Kavalier.

Digging into DOML

Consider the value of humanities in a time of crisis with the Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library

The era when leading politician and prolific author Theodore Metochites wrote was marked by crisis. The Byzantine Empire was under attack from every side: Catalan mercenaries, Serbian kings, and (most ominously for those who know what comes next) a new Turkish dynasty known as the Ottomans each chewed off chunks of the realm. Reconciling the demands of his active political role with the love of learning that first brought him to the emperor's attention forms one of Metochites's principal concerns in On Morals, or Concerning Education. Read an introduction to this wide-ranging meditation on the nature and significance of intellectual life. Sophia Xenophontos's translation for the Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library makes the work, composed just over seven hundred years ago, available to English-speaking readers for the first time at a particularly apposite moment.

New Episode of Byzantine Studies Podcast Available

Niels Gaul and Divna Manolova discuss Renaissance Self-Fashioning: From More to Shakespeare 

Listen to the next episode of our limited summer podcast series, where a senior scholar discusses with a younger scholar an article or book chapter from outside Byzantine studies that has had an impact on their work. Episode 2 welcomes Niels Gaul (University of Edinburgh) and Divna Manolova (Centre for Medieval Literature, University of York and University of Southern Denmark) to discuss Stephen Greenblatt's Renaissance Self-Fashioning: From More to Shakespeare. They focus on the introduction and chapter 3, "Power, Sexuality and Inwardness in Wyatt's Poetry," diving into questions like what courtiers in Elizabethan London and Palaiologan Constantinople had in common and how important self-fashioning was in the career of the learned men and women along the shores of the Thames and Bosporus.

Open-Access Publications in Pre-Columbian and Byzantine Studies

Fellows recommend favorites from our downloadable books

Discover transformative texts and classic works of scholarship with our free searchable PDFs. Postdoctoral Fellow in Byzantine Art and Archaeology Stephanie Caruso suggests Byzantine Pilgrimage Art (Gary Vikan), a pathbreaking book that established late antique pilgrimage and its artifacts as an important topic of study. Few phenomena in the history of Byzantium mobilized more people, wealth, and artistic creativity than pilgrimage did. Byzantine Coinage (Philip Grierson) introduces phases of the coinage; gold, silver, and copper coinage; types and inscriptions; and ruler representations. The book also provides tables of values corresponding with various times in the empire's history, a list of Byzantine emperors, and a glossary. Byzantine Monastic Foundation Documents: A Complete Translation of the Surviving Founders' Typika and Testaments (ed. John Thomas and Angela Constantinides Hero) illuminates almost every aspect of Byzantine monastic life and its development from the eighth to the sixteenth century.
 
Postdoctoral Fellow in Pre-Columbian Art and Archaeology Iyaxel Cojti Ren recommends Native Traditions in the Postconquest World (ed. Elizabeth H. Boone and Tom Cummins), which aims to better understand the resilience of native societies by looking at Indigenous responses to Spanish intrusion and the cultural adjustments and negotiations it required. Olmec Art at Dumbarton Oaks presents a remarkably significant collection that holds much information regarding the social worlds and religious and symbolic views of the people who made and used these objects before the arrival of Europeans in the New World. Gender in Pre-Hispanic America (ed. Cecelia F. Klein) considers genders as socially constructed categories that have shaped our present understanding of the past and informed how past peoples understood their present. 

Bring Art into the Home with Resources for Teachers, K-12 Students, and Families 

New activities meet DC public school art guidelines, plus materials on ecology and Pre-Columbian art 

As the school year begins, introduce students to world-class art while meeting curriculum guidelines from DC public schools (DCPS). Two new guides for elementary students align with units of the DCPS Arts Framework: Patterns in Nature and Flower Garden. (Look out for elementary, middle, and high school guides for other units to be posted soon.) The guides include worksheets, videos, and online resources from the Dumbarton Oaks art collection. Activities about Pre-Columbian art let students discover elements of jewelry (such as jade, gold, mythology, and animals) in a word search, then investigate the felines and festivalgoers of a Wari textile in our bilingual exercise. Download and print ecology activities ranging from coloring pages of plants to flower and hummingbird paper craft tutorials about coevolution to a detailed lesson plan on the Amazon rainforest ecosystem to a sample AP World History Document-Based Question (DBQ). Add art and nature to your virtual classroom with our Zoom and Webex backgrounds. Check the website for future additions to educational materials.

Dumbarton Oaks by the Numbers

More than one thousand scholars and students served by summer programming

From Washington, DC, public school students to researchers across the globe, more than one thousand scholars and students benefitted from virtual Dumbarton Oaks programming this summer. They participated in the Plant Humanities Summer Program, Byzantine Greek Summer School, Garden and Landscape Studies Graduate Workshop and symposium, and K-12 educational lessons and activities.

Plant Spotting around DC

Colorful chrysanthemums herald the arrival of fall

While much of Beatrix Farrand's design genius in the garden is centered on structure, layers, and beguiling perspectives, color plays a key role in creating interesting garden moments. In spaces such as the Herbaceous Borders and Fountain Terrace, Farrand used chrysanthemums-expertly curated to be in harmony with late-season perennials and early-season fall foliage-to provide fall color. Gardeners continue this time-honored tradition, maintaining important (and now difficult to find) heirloom chrysanthemum varieties all year using stock plants, cuttings, and a drip irrigation system. Look for chrysanthemums in public and private gardens across the DC area, where they help extend the bloom season as summer annuals begin to fade. If you try growing them yourself, remember chrysanthemums thrive in moist, well-drained soil and full sun. Take a tip from our gardeners and repeatedly pinch back the growing points throughout the summer, which encourages branching (leading to a fuller plant) and also delays flowering until the fall. For a bit of fall color from anywhere, explore our entire garden virtually via video tour.

On View Online

Discover the collection of Dumbarton Oaks from anywhere.

Ancient Art at Dumbarton Oaks

Art from the ancient Mediterranean represents a small but significant part of the Dumbarton Oaks collection. When viewed alongside Byzantine art, these works offer an opportunity to consider the continuities and changes in artistic production from the classical to the medieval period. The new online exhibit Ancient Art at Dumbarton Oaks comprises a selection of ancient and late antique art in the Byzantine Collection, the majority acquired from prominent antique dealers such as Joseph Brummer. The documentation of the collection's provenance provides a look into the world of early twentieth-century collecting. The online collection features many pieces of distinction, such as the Romano-Arabian bronze statue of a rearing horse, the purple porphyry head of a Roman emperor, Greek bronze statuettes that date back as far as the fifth century BCE, and stunning Byzantine jewelry in gold, sapphire, pearls, and rock crystal. The exhibit was coordinated by Elizabeth Dospel Williams, associate curator of the Byzantine collection, and Tyler fellow Kelsey Eldridge.

Upcoming Programs

Experience online events at Dumbarton Oaks.

Memoryscapes of King Phillip''s War: Revisiting Indigenous and Colonial Places, Histories, and Legacies

Thursday, October 1, 4 p.m. ET

Public Lecture - Christine DeLucia revisits late 17th-century Native American and colonial encounters, shedding new light on how and why diverse communities pursued diplomacy, peacemaking, and violence.

Register today

Stay Connected with Dumbarton Oaks

Last Month to Apply for 2021-2022 Mellon Urban Landscape Studies and Teaching Fellowships 

Study urban landscapes through the lenses of democracy, race, identity, and difference

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Apply by December 1 for opportunities in our Mellon-funded initiative focused on "Democracy and the Urban Landscape: Race, Identity, and Difference." Available to cross-disciplinary scholars, with preference for candidates with terminal degrees (PhD or MLA), Mellon Fellowships in Urban Landscape Studies are for a semester or academic year. Open to current faculty members in universities and other postsecondary educational institutions, Mellon History Teaching Fellowships are an opportunity for faculty to expand and enrich the content of landscape history courses by offering narratives of how race, identity, and difference have been inscribed into urban landscapes.

Cultural Philanthropy in the Museum Space

Virtual weeklong course for Harvard students on philanthropy

Apply by November 16! Open to Harvard students at the beginning of their college careers who are interested in exploring new fields and to more advanced students contemplating future careers in the cultural, humanities, and nonprofit sectors, this virtual Wintersession course introduces students to the history, contemporary influence, and key debates surrounding philanthropy, with a focus on the museum space. Over the past two decades, the rise of strategic philanthropy has added to the pressure on cultural organizations to demonstrate their social value; yet the emphasis on metrics and demonstrable impact does not align easily with the long-term horizons of culture and the arts. The ongoing pandemic will likely affect the changing priorities of philanthropic giving while putting additional pressure on the financial resources of cultural organizations, many of which have had to close their doors and reduce programs and staff. Making a case for cultural philanthropy is as urgent a proposition as ever.

Release of New DC Public Schools Unit Guide

New resource aligned with DCPS Arts Framework now available

Building on our outreach initiatives to support the humanities and to increase access to the museum and garden, new resources aligned with DC Public Schools' Arts Framework are available for download on the education webpage. The Orchestra: Strings Attached activity guide provides teachers and students resources that align with The Orchestra: Strings Attached unit of the DCPS Arts Framework for third- to fifth-grade students. As part of the Determination learning arc, students use the written word and art to respond to music and learn about symphonic music and the instruments of an orchestra. This guide highlights the Dumbarton Oaks concerto and is accompanied by a writing and drawing activity.

People and Power in Byzantium

Colloquium brought together specialists to discuss methodology and interpretive models for the study of Byzantine society

Research on the social and economic history of Byzantium has tended to focus on the upper levels of society, where the evidence is abundant and relatively easily accessible. It has traditionally been dominated by attention to the large structures of church and state, represented by the key figures of patriarch and emperor, and how they implemented their economic and ideological interests. This has resulted in a top-down view of Byzantine society. In recent years, however, greater attention has been paid to the study of group formation, especially with a view to vertical mobility through patronage networks. This colloquium, held on November 5 and 6, organized by Claudia Rapp (University of Vienna), brought together eight specialists who investigated the formation of groups based on shared purpose, whether social, economic, or religious. Of particular interest is the interplay between external pressures and internal motivation in the perception and representation of groups and in the formation of groups and networks.

Segregation and Resistance in America''s Urban Landscapes

Scholars and teachers engaged with the urban landscape and environment in recent symposium

The segregation of urban communities through the construction of race- and class-based policies and practices, and the consequent resistance of these communities in North America dates to the first settlements and settler-colonialism. Understanding how the legacies of such practices shape urban landscapes is essential to a deeper awareness of contemporary challenges and opportunities, as well as the potential futures of cities and their urban landscapes.

Garden and Landscape Studies' spring symposium, Segregation and Resistance in Urban Landscapes, was reorganized as a successful virtual series over the summer, examining how interdisciplinary landscape historians excavate layers of narratives and artifacts embedded in the power of place, as well as how land in the urban landscape is understood broadly. Papers were prerecorded and shared with over 350 registered participants and followed by a curated discussion among the authors and invited discussants. The research centered on how to read the land as an environment, a place, and a landscape that is simultaneously cultural and natural. Such a reading was pursued in the context of maps, stories, and practices that both reveal and shape the narratives that emerge. Topics ranged widely; scholars investigated urban farm markets, rural slums, communal gardens in Los Angeles' Chinatown , the racial segregation of parks in Chicago, Blackness in Appalachia, settler colonialism as a frame for development in Colombia and Canada, the traces of policy in health and in zoning, and the concrete supply chain.

The rich discussions both informed the development of the papers each author is submitting to the upcoming edited volume and outlined new areas of scholarship and inquiry. The symposium builds on our Mellon Initiative in Urban Landscape Studies seeking to expand scholarship in landscape history to tackle questions of race, identity, and difference in the contexts of democracy and place.

Rethinking Byzantine Masculinities: Gender, Sexuality, Emotions, Devotion

Scholars across the globe discussed articulations and performances of masculinity

For the past five decades, Byzantinists have explored gender and sexuality, and recent work has turned to gendered emotions and religious devotion. While much of this research has its origin in women's history, there has been an increasing interest in men, including monks and eunuchs, and in the articulations and performances of masculinity. In an October 30 webinar, four scholars who have actively promoted this research reflected on their work and its evolving academic and nonacademic contexts. Claudia Rapp (University of Vienna and Austrian Academy of Sciences) and Derek Krueger (University of North Carolina at Greensboro) organized the event.

Three New Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library Titles Available

Including new and authoritative translations of sermons, political thought, and poetic compositions

The Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library fall publication season this year includes the first English translation of Homilies by Sophronios of Jerusalem; the most authoritative side-by-side edition of Parisiana poetria by John of Garland; and Old English Legal Writings, the first publication to bring together Wulfstan's works on law, church governance, and political reform. Preorder this season''s titles now.

Sophronios's Homilies-like his poetry, biographies, and miracle accounts-bear eloquent testimony to his tireless struggle on behalf of Orthodoxy and the Christian way of life. The seven sermons collected here were delivered during his short tenure, at his life's end, as patriarch of Jerusalem (634-638). Based on a completely new edition of the Byzantine Greek text, this is the first English translation of his homilies.

The Parisiana poetria of John of Garland, a prominent thirteenth-century teacher of the language arts at the University of Paris, is the only thoroughgoing attempt to unite three distinct arts-quantitative poetry, rhythmic poetry, and prose composition, especially of letters-under a single set of rules. First published around 1220, the sections on low, middle, and high style, illustrated by his "Wheel of Virgil," have attracted wide attention, and his long account of rhymed poetry is the most complete that has survived.

Archbishop Wulfstan of York (d. 1023) was a powerful clergyman and the most influential political thinker of pre-Conquest England. In the midst of Viking invasions and cultural upheaval, Wulfstan articulated a complementary relationship between secular and ecclesiastical law that shaped the political world of eleventh-century England. Old English Legal Writings is the first publication to bring together Wulfstan's works on law, church governance, and political reform. When read together, they reveal the scope and originality of his thought as it lays out the mutual obligations of the church, the state, and the common people.

Memoryscapes of King Philip''s War: Revisiting Indigenous and Colonial Places, Histories, and Legacies

Public lecture revisited the indigenous resistance movement of King Philip''s War and its consequences

In the October 1 public lecture "Memoryscapes of King Philip's War," Christine DeLucia (Williams College) traced the changing meanings of homelands for Indigenous people and nations including Nipmucs, Narragansetts, and Wampanoags, who strategically confronted colonial expansion by settlers. The talk invited a lively virtual discussion about how the past continues to matter and about the opportunities and challenges related to heritage, preservation, and caretaking of meaningful lands and waters. Watch a close-captioned recording of "Memoryscapes of King Philip's War."??????

New Episode - Byzantine Podcast Series

Sharon Gerstel and Franka Hovet discuss Vasililka: A Village in Modern Greece

Listen to our October podcast, in which we were joined by Sharon Gerstel (University of California, Los Angeles) and Franka Horvat (PhD candidate, University of California, Los Angeles) for a discussion of Vasilika: A Village in Modern Greece by Ernestine Friedl, published in 1963 in New York by Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. They answer questions like, what is the connection between a post-World War II Greek village in Boeotia and eleventh-century Byzantine villages in the Mani; how relevant are Friedl's observations in the 1960s for a twenty-first-century scholar studying thirteenth-century villages on the Dalmatian coast; and how have women scholars impacted the course of Byzantine studies in the last forty years?

Digitally Traversing Global Plant History

Virtual Plant Humanities Summer program created timely plant narratives

This summer, twelve students from across the globe and at various stages in their academic careers gathered virtually for the six-week Plant Humanities Summer Program in a shared effort to combat plant blindness. Guided by Plant Humanities Principal Investigators Yota Batsaki and Anatole Tchikine and postdoctoral fellow Ashley Buchanan, students explored the dynamic of plant-human interactions, engaging with a variety of genres and media-from novels and poetry to manuscripts and treatises-to trace these complex histories from the early modern period through to the age of colonial empires and the Anthropocene.

Scholars in the Spotlight

Catch up on the research of fellows and visiting scholars

Sarah F. Porter considers how the deathscapes of fourth-century Antioch felt. Porter is a Tyler fellow in Byzantine Studies and a PhD candidate in religion at Harvard University.

Ilgin Nas catalogues the Robert L. Van Nice papers on Hagia Sophia restorations. Nas is a Master of Theological Studies student at Harvard Divinity School and was a 2019-2020 humanities fellow.

Norman Storer Corrada uses ephemera to challenge representations of Montezuma. Storer Corrada is a master's student in museum studies at George Washington University and was a 2019-2020 humanities fellow.

Plant Spotting Around DC

Peep some iconic Georgetown leaves

As the leaves start to turn, try to catch the distinctive golden color of ginkgo trees (Ginkgo biloba), which doesn't last long as the leaves drop all at once. With fossil records dating to over 250 million years ago, ginkgos are some of the oldest trees in existence-what evolutionary plant scientist Peter Crane calls a living fossil. Because the trees are fairly pest-resistant and hardy, they are popular street plantings, including throughout Georgetown. Though not in the garden proper, ginkgos can be found elsewhere on our grounds at La Quercia and the Fellowship House. The convenience and resilience of the trees come at a cost, though-many people recognize the pungent smell of the berries produced by the female trees. Although it is now common practice to plant male trees to avoid this issue, evidence suggests ginkgos may not be restricted to one sex or may even switch sexes in certain conditions.

See the fall splendor of our trees in the virtual garden tour.

DO by the Numbers

46 scholars supported by Dumbarton Oaks this year

For the 2020-2021 academic year, we are joined by 29 research fellows, 7 postgraduate fellows, 5 humanities fellows, 2 visiting musicians, and 3 visiting scholars.

Learn more about our Fellowship Community and their research here!

Recipes from Executive Chef Hector Paz

Dishes celebrating ingredients from the Americas

While teleworking, Executive Chef Hector Paz has been curating and sharing weekly menus. In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15-October 15), Hector created dishes highlighting those food traditions, three of which were recently shared on our social media. Try his recommendations for roasted heirloom tomato soup, grilled pork tenderloin with mango and avocado salsa, and roasted Chilean sea bass with Peruvian potato crisps. Buen provecho!

On View Online

Discover the collection of Dumbarton Oaks from anywhere.

God''s Regents on Earth: A Thousand Years of Byzantine Imperial Seals

For over a thousand years the Byzantine Emperor sat in his palace, ruling over the empire as God's regent on earth. His was the ultimate authority. Decrees, letters, judgments, and commands left Constantinople every day signed by the emperor in red ink and secured with the imperial seal. These seals not only protected and authenticated imperial documents, they also spread the emperor's image and served as imperial propaganda. The designs of the imperial seals are interesting for more than their artistic value: they provide an insight into the minds and policies of the rulers whose image they bore; they tell us not only how emperors wished to be viewed by the recipients of their letters, but also how they viewed themselves. Imperial seals, with their titles, images, and projection of divinely sanctioned authority, show the blend of Roman, Hellenistic, and Judeo-Christian ingredients that went into the Byzantine imperial recipe.

Peruse the online exhibit and catalogue of 17,000 Byzantine seals.

Dumbarton Oaks Conversations

The United Nations is marking its 75th anniversary at a time of great disruption for the world, compounded by a global health crisis with severe economic and social impacts. In fall 1944, Dumbarton Oaks hosted delegations from the United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and China in a series of sessions, from which emerged a tentative agreement that was instrumental in laying the groundwork for the United Nations Charter the next year.

Explore memos, photographs, and proposals from the Dumbarton Oaks Conversations.

Upcoming Programs

Experience online events at Dumbarton Oaks.

"The chatter, dialogue, and squabble of Byzantine cooridors of power": Writing History in the Aftermath of Mantzikert (1071)

November 18

Wednesday, November 18, 2-3:30 p.m. ET

Public lecture: Eric McGeer honors John Nesbitt and discusses their book Byzantium in the Time of Troubles: The Continuation of the Chronicle of John Skylitzes (1057-1079).

Register for Writing History in the Aftermath of Mantzikert.

Please note: events this month are canceled, and the museum and garden are closed until further notice. In the meantime, explore our new and open-access publications, as well as the many digital tools and online treasures of Dumbarton Oaks.

Teotihuacan: The World Beyond the City

New book provides first comparative discussion of Teotihuacan''s foreign policy

Teotihuacan was a city of major importance in the Americas between 1 and 550 CE. As one of only two cities in the New World with a population over one hundred thousand, it developed a network of influence that stretched across Mesoamerica. Teotihuacan: The World Beyond the City brings together specialists in art and archaeology to develop a synthetic overview of the urban, political, economic, and religious organization of a key power in Classic-period Mesoamerica. Edited by David M. Carballo, Kenneth G. Hirth, and Barbara Arroyo, the volume provides the first comparative discussion of Teotihuacan's foreign policy with respect to the Central Mexican Highlands, Oaxaca, Veracruz, and the Maya Lowlands and Highlands.

New Edited Volume Sheds Light on Pre-Columbian Social Authority

Sacred Matter: Animacy and Authority in the Americas

In practices of animation, things were cast as active subjects, agents of political change, and representatives of communities. Pre-Columbian peoples staked claims to their authority when they animated matter by giving life to grandiose buildings, speaking with deified boulders, and killing valued objects. Likewise, things and places often animated people by demanding labor, care, and nourishment. Sacred Matter: Animacy and Authority in the Americas examines animism in Pre-Columbian America, focusing on the central roles objects and places played in practices that expressed and sanctified political authority in the Andes, Amazon, and Mesoamerica. The volume was edited by Steve Kosiba, John Wayne Janusek, and Thomas B. F. Cummins.

Three New Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library Volumes Now Available

Receive a 20% discount and free shipping to the US and Canada this month 

Dive into three new facing-page translations of Byzantine Greek, medieval Latin, and Old English texts, now available from the Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library. To receive a 20% discount, plus free standard shipping in the United States and Canada, order from our virtual exhibit hall for the International Congress on Medieval Studies through the end of May. All Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library volumes are eligible, as are selected other books.
 
The first English translation of On Morals or Concerning Education by Theodore Metochites probes hotly disputed issues in fourteenth-century Byzantine society. Translated by Sophia Xenophontos, the treatise is an exhortation on the importance of education by the prolific late-Byzantine author and statesman. Meanwhile, Appendix Ovidiana: Latin Poems Ascribed to Ovid in the Middle Ages offers the first comprehensive collection and English translation of these pseudonymous medieval Latin poems. Read the volume translated by Ralph Hexter, Laura Pfuntner, and Justin Haynes and consider the question of when imitation of an author morphs into masquerade. Finally, Anonymous Old English Lives of Saints presents new translations and Old English editions from Johanna Kramer, Hugh Magennis, and Robin Norris. The stories detail 22 unattributed lives of saints ranging from Saint Nicholas to Saint Mary of Egypt, set everywhere from Antioch to India.

Woven Interiors: Furnishing Early Medieval Egypt Catalogue Made Open Access

Download the free catalogue for the recent cocurated exhibition

Experience the vibrant colors and array of textures that enlivened interior spaces in early medieval Egypt. Recent exhibition Woven Interiors-a collaboration with The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum-presented rare and fragile masterpieces from major American institutions, including many textiles that had never before been exhibited or had remained in storage for decades. Now, download the digital catalogue free of charge to explore some sixty remarkable pieces. Essays from curators Gudrun B?hl, Sumru Belger Krody, and Dumbarton Oaks Assistant Curator of the Byzantine Collection Elizabeth Dospel Williams highlight major themes of the exhibition, including aesthetics, sacred imagery, comfort at home, and continuity and change. To purchase a hard copy of the catalogue, contact our Museum Shop.

Order Popular Dumbarton Oaks Books with a Discount in May

Read about Byzantium and the Arabs, the letters of patriarchs, Pre-Columbian art history, and more

If you are working from home during the month ahead, take a break or supplement your research with paperback editions of popular titles published by Dumbarton Oaks. In May, get a ???20% discount on any one order, no matter how large. Volumes in Dumbarton Oaks Texts, the Washington series of the international Corpus Fontium Historiae Byzantinae, provide critical editions with facing-page translation, together with introduction and notes or commentary. Available as individual volumes or a complete set, Irfan Shah?d's seven-volume history Byzantium and the Arabs recounts the relationship between the Arabs and the Eastern Roman Empire from 64 BCE to the advent of Islam. Three edited volumes by Elizabeth Benson, first director of Pre-Columbian Studies, examine the cult of the feline, death and the afterlife, and Chav?n. Browse these and a number of other titles, using coupon code WFH20 to receive the discount.

Classic Monographs in Pre-Columbian Studies Available for Free Download

Open access to 35 volumes of Studies in Pre-Columbian Art and Archaeology

From Aztec iconography to Olmec paintings to Chav?n culture, explore important themes in the series Studies in Pre-Columbian Art and Archaeology. These classic monographs highlight research drawing on archaeological, art historical, and ethnohistorical approaches to the Pre-Columbian past in Mesoamerica, Central America, and the Andes. Titles include Zapotec Hieroglyphic Writing, Classic Maya Place Names, The Burial Theme in Moche Iconography, and Ecology and the Arts in Ancient Panama. Volumes 1-35 of Studies in Pre-Columbian Art and Archaeology are now open-access. Volumes 36-40 are available for purchase in hardcover, or obtain a digital copy via JSTOR by purchase or subscription.

Thousands of Images of Syrian Architectural Heritage Released on Wikimedia Commons 

Photographs document a region now devastated by violence

More than 9,700 photographs of Late Roman and Byzantine monuments in Syria are being uploaded to Wikimedia Commons, in keeping with our Access Initiative to make Dumbarton Oaks collections and scholarship more broadly available. In 2016, retired historian Frank Kidner donated photographs he had taken of Syrian sites in the 1980s and 1990s to Dumbarton Oaks. Emphasizing ancient villages in the modern-day province Idlib, west of Aleppo along the border with Turkey, the Frank Kidner Photographs collection documents sites of historical and archaeological significance while capturing scenes of daily life. His poignant photographs of children playing among the nearly 2,000-year-old ruins stand in stark contrast to familiar images of the ongoing refugee and displacement crisis stemming from the Syrian Civil War. Kidner created a comprehensive resource-drawing together topography, evidence of communities that once lived in the region, and architectural details-that is useful for researchers and scholars across a breadth of fields.

New Distance Learning Materials for Families, Teachers, and Students

Ecology paper craft for young artists and Advanced Placement exam preparation

Families, teachers, and students can find resources on our website to supplement distance learning. High school students planning to take the AP World History exam can practice with a sample Document-Based Question (DBQ), plus grading rubric and tips. Young artists in middle school and up can learn about the plant-bird relationship while creating a stunning hummingbird mobile out of paper. Download these new resources as well as a grade 6-12 ecosystem lesson plan and botanical art coloring sheets related to the exhibition Margaret Mee: Portraits of Plants. And don't forget our Zoom and Webex backgrounds to bring the garden or museum into your virtual classroom. Check our website for future additions to educational materials.

When Art Meets Conservation

New video and online exhibit for Margaret Mee: Portraits of Plants

As fires in the Amazon threaten the habitats of native plant species, it is even more important now to recognize the work of artists who strive to document, preserve, and protect local flora. A new video explores how artists and illustrators like Margaret Mee (1909-1988) have helped further conservation of the natural world. Meet Alice Tangerini, staff illustrator in the botany department of the National Museum of Natural History, and Nirupa Rao, botanical illustrator and National Geographic Young Explorer, as they discuss their efforts to highlight the agency and importance of plants. Then dive into the online exhibit for Margaret?Mee: Portraits of Plants, which examines the enduring interplay between art and science through botanical illustration, watercolor, photography, and new digital tools and maps. Look closely at stunning paintings of Amazonian flora by Mee, and discover the longstanding tradition of women botanical artists and illustrators through Rare Book Collection materials and notable loans.

Discover the Middle Ages and Its Afterlife

Open access and discounted books, virtual tour, lectures, and additional resources

If you are working from home during the month ahead, take a break or supplement your research with paperback editions of popular titles published by Dumbarton Oaks. In May, get a ???20% discount on any one order, no matter how large. Volumes in Dumbarton Oaks Texts, the Washington series of the international Corpus Fontium Historiae Byzantinae, provide critical editions with facing-page translation, together with introduction and notes or commentary. Available as individual volumes or a complete set, Irfan Shah?d's seven-volume history Byzantium and the Arabs recounts the relationship between the Arabs and the Eastern Roman Empire from 64 BCE to the advent of Islam. Three edited volumes by Elizabeth Benson, first director of Pre-Columbian Studies, examine the cult of the feline, death and the afterlife, and Chav?n. Browse these and a number of other titles, using coupon code WFH20 to receive the discount.

Folger Institute Team Visits the Rare Book Collection

Plant Humanities Initiative scholars shared research with Folger Before "Farm to Table" team in February

From the cold and icy North American coastline to the sumptuous palace gardens of the French kings, one plant inspired curiosity of travelers, doctors, and scholars: arbor vit?, or the "tree of life." Discover the mysterious tale of this life-giving tree-along with unexpected stories of more familiar plants like turmeric, mint, kudzu, and cacao-in a behind-the-scenes look at ongoing research by the Plant Humanities Initiative. In February, Plant Humanities fellows shared their work with a group from another Andrew W. Mellon Foundation-funded project: Before "Farm to Table" at the Folger Institute. Building bridges across the projects, the researchers encouraged each other to look at their collections in new ways and discussed such shared themes as indigenous knowledge and plant mobility.

Dumbarton Oaks by the Numbers

More than 100,000 pages made open access

In the past seven years, the Dumbarton Oaks library has digitized over 100,000 pages of rare books, photographs, and archival materials. 12,063 pages were digitized in 2019 alone.

Plant Spotting Around DC

Enjoy favorites from our garden in your neighborhood

As the danger of frost recedes in May, the garden springs to life. Here are highlights from our gardens-which you can explore by virtual tour-including plants you might spy on a neighborhood walk or grow in your home garden. Look for peonies, a May-blooming plant with tremendous variety in color and flower form. Just give these perennials well-drained soils, full sun, and some stacking or support, and they will reward you year after year with long-lasting blooms for flower arranging. The vegetable garden also thrives in May. Beets, leeks, chives, and swiss chard are ready for harvest. Throughout the month, gardeners at Dumbarton Oaks plant cool-season kale, rhubarb, parsley, and lettuce, and warm-season tomatoes, eggplants, zucchini, beans, peppers, plus herbs such as basil, rosemary, cilantro, marjoram, and oregano. Finally, this month is ideal for planting summer-flowering annual plants. Some Dumbarton Oaks favorites include petunias, Angelonia, Ageratum (good for sun or shade), Vinca periwinkles, Lantana (good for poor and dry soils in full sun), and marigolds, which also deter pests and rodents in the vegetable garden.

Fellows in the Spotlight

Catch up with our fellows and their research

Ann Komara digs deep into a celebrated nineteenth-century public park transformed from a quarry site, contextualizing highly influential landscapes and urban designs in Second Empire Paris. Komara is a professor of landscape architecture and urban design at the University of Colorado Denver.
 
Brad Boswell investigates angels, demons, Moses, and the role of narrative conflict in a fifth-century anti-Christian treatise and its lengthy refutation. Boswell is a PhD candidate in early Christianity at Duke University.
 
Patricia Vigderman explores time, cultural identity, and startling contradictions in Rome, such as antiquities in an electrical plant. Vigderman is emerita assistant professor of English at Kenyon College.
 
Philip Gant studies landscape and lawsuits, documenting how Korean Buddhist monastics were engaged in some of late Choson society's most creative legal problem-solving. Gant is a PhD candidate in history and East Asian languages (HEAL) at Harvard University
 
Lewis Hyde talks hunting for butterflies, Buddhism, and the problem of the unforgettable. Hyde is Emeritus Richard L. Thomas Professor in Creative Writing at Kenyon College.

As a public health precaution, the museum and garden are closed temporarily and Dumbarton Oaks has canceled all public events through the end of June. In the meantime, explore our robust summer scholarly activities, as well as our many digital tools and online treasures.

Summer at Dumbarton Oaks Goes Digital

Robust virtual scholarly programming and internships developed for the summer months

We continue our scholarly mission, taking into account ongoing health and safety concerns. Accordingly, summer fellowships are deferred to next summer. Read about the scholarly programs and internships that are moving to a digital model this summer. The Byzantine Greek Summer School improves knowledge of Greek among Byzantinists and others interested in the Byzantine world, relying on Dumbarton Oaks' rich digital collections and the increasing number of digitized manuscript collections around the world. The Garden and Landscape Studies Graduate Workshop featured a program of readings, discussions, and guest lectures, with special focus on public landscapes and the public realm as part of the Mellon Initiative in Urban Landscape Studies. Under the auspices of another Mellon initiative in Plant Humanities, the Plant Humanities Summer Program provides a foundation for interdisciplinary investigation into plants and an introduction to digital humanities skills. The 2020 Garden and Landscape Studies Symposium offers prerecorded papers and facilitated discussion sessions across the summer months, while Byzantine senior fellows and scholars plan to encourage scholarship via Zoom webinars and a limited-series podcast. Remote internships take place this summer across the museum, library, garden, and the Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library.

Scholars in the Spotlight

Catch up on the research of fellows and visiting scholars

Eurydice Georganteli reveals the crucial importance of the Via Egnatia to European and world heritage, offering a biography of the cultural route. Georganteli is a lecturer in the history of art and architecture and managing editor of the Digital Atlas of Roman & Medieval Civilizations (DARMC) at Harvard University. 
 
Warren Woodfin discusses bringing heaven into the church, investigating six centuries of cross-referencing between Orthodox ritual and heavenly iconography. Woodfin is an associate professor in art and history at Queens College, CUNY.
 
Lindi Masur puts seeds under the microscope to find new evidence for indigenous food production and landscape management. Masur is a PhD candidate in anthropology at the University of Toronto.
 
Dimiter Angelov studies geography and the repurposing of ancient knowledge in twelfth-century Constantinople and translates texts on philosophy, friendship, and Hellenic identity. Angelov is Dumbarton Oaks Professor of Byzantine History at Harvard University and a senior fellow in Byzantine Studies.
 
Thomas Arentzen explores trees that heal and fly, searching for Byzantine trees that interacted with humans and the divine and asking how Byzantine Christians imagined trees to behave. Arentzen is a researcher in linguistics and philology at Uppsala University.
 
Costas Constantinides catalogues a rare manuscript collection ranging from medieval textbooks to works by classical poets and orators such as Homer and Euripides. Constantinides is professor emeritus of Byzantine history at the University of Ioannina.

Six Classic Books Released in Paperback

Project gives out-of-print treasures a new life

A two-year-old project at Dumbarton Oaks to make classic translations and scholarship more widely accessible has just released six new titles, including the Periphyseon of Eriugena, now available in English for the first time in decades. Several of these titles are also freely available for download in PDF format. Go behind the scenes to learn how favorite Dumbarton Oaks titles debut for a second time. "The classic books we're reprinting are standards in the field, and they can spark people to take a new approach to old scholarship," says Kathleen Sparkes, director of publications. The other recently released titles are Russian Travelers to Constantinople in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries by George P. Majeska, The Synodicon Vetus translated by John M. Duffy and John Parker, People and Power in Byzantium: An Introduction to Modern Byzantine Studies by Alexander Kazhdan and Giles Constable, Sabas, Leader of Palestinian Monasticism: A Comparative Study in Eastern Monasticism, Fourth to Seventh Centuries by Joseph Patrich, and Private Religious Foundations in the Byzantine Empire by John Philip Thomas. Want to see another Dumbarton Oaks title reprinted? Make a request.

New American Garden Stamps Feature Dumbarton Oaks

Tha?sa Way and Jonathan Kavalier speak at American Public Gardens Association release event 

Honoring the beauty of American gardens, the United States Postal Service has released 10 stamps featuring photographs by Allen Rokach of botanic, country estate, and municipal gardens. On the Dumbarton Oaks stamp, clouds of purple wisteria hang above the intricate designs of the Pebble Garden. At a May virtual release event hosted by the American Public Gardens Association, Director of Gardens and Grounds Jonathan Kavalier appeared in one of the video dispatches from several of the featured gardens and spoke of the history of the Pebble Garden, "a stunning example of the collaboration and iterative design that began here nearly a hundred years ago. This space is special because it showcases the design visions of both Beatrix Farrand and her prot?g?e Ruth Havey." The webinar also included a message from a US Postal Service senior director and a Q&A session. Kavalier, Resident Program Director for Garden and Landscape Studies Tha?sa Way, and leaders from the Postal Service and some of the other public gardens answered questions. Way said, given the challenges of the ongoing pandemic, "I can't think of a more appropriate time to recognize the incredible value and contribution of these places."

The Holy Apostles: A Lost Monument, a Forgotten Project, and the Presentness of the Past 

Book explores a puzzling Byzantine church

Founded by Constantine the Great, rebuilt by Justinian, and redecorated in the ninth, tenth, and twelfth centuries, the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople was the mausoleum of emperors, patriarchs, and saints. Despite its significance, the church no longer exists, replaced by the mosque of Mehmet II after the fall of the city to the Ottomans. Scholars have long puzzled over the appearance of the church, as well as its importance to the Byzantines. Anxious to reconstruct the building and its place in the empire, a collaborative project brought together a philologist, an art historian, and an architectural historian in the 1940s and 1950s to reconstruct their own version of the Holy Apostles. Never fully realized, their efforts remained unpublished. Read the new volume The Holy Apostles: A Lost Monument, a Forgotten Project, and the Presentness of the Past, edited by Margaret Mullett and Robert G. Ousterhout, which reconsiders the project from a variety of vantage points while illuminating differences of approach seventy years later, to arrive at a twenty-first-century synthesis.

Annual Volume of Byzantine Studies Journal Released

Dumbarton Oaks Papers, Volume 73

Published annually, the journal Dumbarton Oaks Papers was founded in 1941 for the publication of articles relating to Byzantine civilization. It includes work on art, archaeology, codicology, epigraphy, historiography, history, language, law, literature, liturgy, music, numismatics, paleography, science, and sigillography. The most recent Volume 73, edited by Joel Kalvesmaki, is now available from Harvard University Press. Authors include Walter E. Kaegi, Daniel Galadza, Sylvain Destephen, Dina Boero, Alexandre M. Roberts, Lilia Campana, Hugh G. Jeffery, Maria G. Parani, Kostis Kourelis, Kathrin Colburn, Eunice Dauterman Maguire, Sabine Schrenk, Jennifer L. Ball, Maria Evangelatou, Thelma K. Thomas, Avinoam Shalem, and Associate Curator of the Byzantine Collection Elizabeth Dospel Williams.

Discover the Middle Ages and Its Afterlife

Open access books, virtual tour, lectures, and additional resources

Reflect on the role of the Middle Ages in the fashioning of modern European and American identities through literature, architecture, art, and music. Take a virtual tour of recent exhibition Juggling the Middle Ages, peruse the digital exhibition catalogue, and enjoy two free sample medievalist coloring sheets. Listen to related expert lectures on French medievalism and Bernard Boutet de Monvel's "Jeanne d'Arc," in partnership with the National Gallery of Art. Looking for deeper engagement? Download the six-volume work The Juggler of Notre Dame and the Medievalizing of Modernity by director and curator Jan Ziolkowski. The exhibition followed a medieval tale known as "Our Lady's Tumbler" from its rediscovery by scholars in the 1870s to its modern interpretations in children's books-including illustrated versions by Anatole France and Barbara Cooney, available for purchase.

Plant Spotting Around DC

Enjoy or grow favorites from our garden in your neighborhood

This month, we continue sharing highlights from our gardens, which you can explore by virtual tour, including plants you might spy on a neighborhood walk or grow in your home garden. A late spring paradise, the Rose Garden contains over 700 rose plants spread across 44 cultivars (plant varieties cultivated by humans). Beatrix Farrand designed the garden as an impressionistic wash of color from deeper pinks and reds in the south towards salmons and yellows in the north. You may spot the Golden Fairy Tales rose, a cheery yellow favorite, in local or public gardens. Farrand selected roses for fragrance and color, and today, Dumbarton Oaks gardeners use the same criteria while also considering best practices in sustainable management-which may be of use to home gardeners. Try growing roses on their own rootstock and choosing cultivars with disease resistance against black spot and powdery mildew. Planting companion plants like Galium can help attract beneficial insects and reduce the need for chemical fungicides. To promote rose health, irrigate early in the day to allow the plants to dry before night, sterilize pruners between shrubs, seal pruning cuts with glue to prevent borers, clean up fallen leaves, and keep mulch away from plant crowns. For roses with an existing crown gall problem, Galltrol offers a beneficial bacterial inoculation that colonizes the crown of the rose plant, preventing infection.
 

On View Online

Discover the Dumbarton Oaks collections from anywhere

Margaret Mee: Portraits of Plants

Discover stunning paintings of Amazonian flora by artist, explorer, and environmentalist Margaret Mee?(1909-1988) and explore the longstanding tradition of women botanical artists and illustrators in online exhibit Margaret Mee: Portraits of Plants. Browse zoomable images and descriptions of stunning Mee plant portraits, highlights from the Rare Book Collection, loaned works, and more. New digital tools build connections between the geographies and histories of featured artists and illustrators, such as Mee, contemporary photographer Amy Lamb, scientific illustrator Alice Tangerini, botanical artist Nirupa Rao, and close to a dozen other women from the seventeenth century onward. Explore how women artists were visualizing knowledge for several centuries with an interactive timeline, and discover mixed media that challenge the boundaries between art and illustration into the present day. Finally, consider Amazonian entanglements linking conservation and art via an interactive map of Mee's expeditions in the Amazon. Learn more from additional resources such as a series of essays, interviews, a glossary, a timeline of Mee's life, and further reading.

Manuscripts in the Byzantine Collection

Mildred and Robert Woods Bliss acquired the first manuscript for the museum in 1939, and over the years the holdings have come to span the ninth through thirteenth centuries, including texts in Greek, Georgian, and Armenian; illuminations; and the recently acquired John Chrysostom's Homilies on St. Matthew. Explore four of these treasures from the Byzantine Collection online in great detail via zoomable facsimiles. The digitized illustrated manuscripts include a gospel lectionary with marginal illuminations, a psalter and New Testament, the Gospels of Luke and John, and the Gospels in Greek with canon tables and prologues. Page through the books as they were used for hundreds of years before entering the museum, discovering gold text, luxurious images, and intriguing surprises.

DC History

Discover the history of Washington, DC, from its nexus of cultural institutions to its waterways, in two digital mapping projects. Instructors of courses on DC history, urban planning, environmental studies, water management, and related fields can draw on the DC Water Atlas, an easy, centralized reference of the city's waterways big and small from the eighteenth century to the present. The online atlas visualizes changes over time in layers or phases and even highlights how the city's landscape might have appeared had certain rejected projects been realized, such as a proposed Rock Creek dam that would have created an enormous reservoir in the northern part of the city. Meanwhile, Mapping Cultural Philanthropy: Donors and Cultural Institutions in the Nation's Capital chronicles the history of the collectors, patrons, and philanthropy that helped create cultural institutions in the DC area. Learn about the unexpected stories behind such recognizable institutions as the National Gallery of Art, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Museum of the Bible, Duke Ellington School of the Arts, and Washington National Opera.