The special exhibition at the Bode-Museum (06.02.2025 to 12.04.2025) shows glamourous garments from medieval Nubia that express secular and religious prestige. The reconstructions are based on wall paintings from the cathedral of Faras. These are now in the collections of the National Museum in Warsaw and the Sudan National Museum in Khartoum. These magnificent loans enter into dialogue with selected textiles from the collection of the Museum of Byzantine Art and the Museum of Islamic Art.
The glamorous clothing in Faras’s wall paintings is particularly elegant and reveals its own symbolism. Initially inspired by the courtly costume of Byzantium, over the centuries, its décor has blended African colours and motifs with Arabic influences to create a unique style of dress.
Painstakingly Reconstructed Robes
Five robes for royal mothers, kings and bishop Marianos have been painstakingly reconstructed on the basis of the paintings from Faras cathedral and archaeological material. A research team from the University of Warsaw and SWPS University has been tasked with researching and reconstructing the splendid robes of the Nubian royal family and ecclesiastical dignitaries from the cathedral of Faras.
Clothing, Kingdom and Church
As today, clothing and accessories in medieval Nubia, now between the southern border of Egypt and Khartoum, were a form of non-verbal communication, with each element having its meaning. The cathedral of Faras, which was excavated by Polish archaeologists in the 1960s, contained many wall paintings. They depict, among others, the most influential official and ecclesiastical figures of the Nubian kingdom of Makuria. Christianity was introduced in this region as a new faith in the 6th century from Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire. Makuria remained a Christian state until the 14th century. Many churches were built during this period, decorated with monumental images of members of the court and clergy. They were intended to demonstrate to the faithful the connection between the kingdom and the church.
From the Louvre to the Museumsinsel Berlin
After an initial presentation in the Louvre in Paris, they will be exhibited in the Bode Museum together with selected textiles from the Museum of Byzantine Art collection, which will be used to explain the various techniques and decorations used in late antiquity and the early Middle Ages. Apart from that the exhibition documents the research results of a project that investigates the relations of authority between Church and state in Nubia.
Bode-Museum, Am Kupfergraben, Eingang über die Monbijoubrücke
10178 Berlin
Opening hours:
Sun 10:00 – 18:00
Mon closed
Tue closed
Wed 10:00 – 17:00
Thu 10:00 – 17:00
Fri 10:00 – 17:00
Sat 10:00 – 18:00