Feature Stories:
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The Glory of Byzantium
Thirty-one coins from the ANS collection are currently on loan to the exhibition "The Glory of Byzantium" which opened at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in March. The exhibit features art of the period from the resolution of the Iconoclastic controversy in 843 through the Latin occupation of Constantinople (1204-61), and includes important pieces from all over the world. The exhibit, which runs through June 6, is attracting over 3,000 visitors per day.
On April 4 at the Met, the ANS cosponsored an afternoon of lectures introduced by Helen C. Evans, Associate Curator for Early Christian and Byzantine Art in the Metropolitan's Department of Mediaeval Art, who was co-curator with William D. Wixom of the exhibit. ANS Chief Curator William E. Metcalf spoke on "God and Man on Byzantine Coins," and John Nesbitt, Research Fellow of Byzantine Sigillography at the Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies spoke on "Byzantine Seals and Their Iconography." The program concluded with a presentation by Alan M. Stahl, ANS Curator of Medieval Coins, on "The Coinage of Venice during the Fourth Crusade." The program, held in the Uris Center Auditorium at the Met, was extremely well attended by members of the ANS and the general public.
Huntington Medal to Ulla Westermark
This year's Huntington Medal was awarded on March 15 to Ulla Westermark, retired curator of the Stockholm collection. Dr. Westermark received the award in person. In the absence of Mark M. Salton, Chairman of the Huntington Medal Committee, the citation was read by William E. Metcalf.
"The Swedish tradition of classical and numismatic study goes back many centuries, and names like Reinhold Berch, Elias Brenner, Emil Hildebrand, and others are familiar to us all. The Royal Coin Cabinet in Stockholm constitutes one of the nuclei of this endeavor, as is borne out by its collections and by the scientists who have built and developed its reputation as a prime center of learning and have placed it amongst the foremost numismatic institutions worldwide.
"Ulla Westermark joined the Royal Coin Cabinet in 1956 and was its director from 1979 to 1983. Since 1986 she has been editing the Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum as chief editor under the auspices of the International Numismatic Commission, shouldering responsibility for at least four of its volumes, thus making Sweden's Greek coin collections accessible also to faraway scholars. She has also found time to produce a number of learned books, articles, and papers, many of which have become essential tools to students of classical numismatics. These include her doctoral dissertation, 'Des Bildnis des Philetairos von Pergamon'; 'Overstrikes of Taras on Didrachms of Akragas' in Essays in honor of Margaret Thompson; 'The Coinage of the Chalcidian League Reconsidered'; and, together with G. K. Jenkins, the important volume The Coinage of Kamarina published by the Royal Numismatic Society in 1980, a complete analysis of the history and coinage of that city based on examination of many hundreds of examples which she placed in the framework of contemporary art. Its significance for the study of Sicilian issues cannot be overrated. Together with Philip Grierson she edited Otto Markholm's Early Hellenistic Coinage, bringing together into a coherent whole this collection of disjecta membra that has come to be so important a tool. Presently she is working on a corpus of Agrigentine coins, whose publication is eagerly anticipated by everyone with an interest in Greek numismatics.
"Ulla Westermark's versatility and, above all, her generosity in sharing the results of her research have been remarkable, and on a more personal level many of us have experienced the hospitality of her lovely home in Stockholm. It has been a source of pride to have her, formally, as a Corresponding Member since 1989. It is a great personal pleasure to strengthen this relationship through the award of the Archer M. Huntington Medal for 1997 in recognition of all of her qualities, as a scholar and as a friend."
After accepting the award Dr. Westermark presented a lecture on "The Early Didrachms of Akragas." The ceremony was followed by a reception and a subscription dinner.
