Childe Hassam (American, 1859–1935), Old House, East Hampton, 1917. Oil on linen. Framed: 28 3/8 x 38 ¼ inches. Bank of America Collection.
Discover the rich story of how American artists adapted and transformed Impressionism in In a New Light: American Impressionism 1870–1940. This major exhibition traces the movement’s journey from its French origins to its dynamic reinterpretation across the United States, revealing how artists blended European influences with American landscapes, cities, and everyday life.
Featuring more than 100 paintings and works on paper from the Bank of America Collection, In a New Light offers a vibrant look at the evolution of American art during a time of national reflection and renewal. Many artists featured in the exhibition studied abroad—particularly in France—where they embraced plein air painting and the bold color and light of Impressionism. Upon returning home, they helped shape a new artistic language rooted in American identity and place.
Organized geographically, the exhibition highlights artists working in key American art colonies, from the coasts of California and New England to the deserts of New Mexico and the streets of Chicago. Visitors will encounter panoramic landscapes by Hudson River School artists, tonal works influenced by the Barbizon School, and expressive paintings by renowned Impressionists like Childe Hassam, Daniel Garber, and Guy Carleton Wiggins.
The gallery installation follows a salon-style presentation, immersing guests in the diversity and energy of the era. Alongside iconic Impressionist scenes are works by American Realists and Tonalists, offering insight into the wide range of artistic voices that helped define the American experience at the turn of the 20th century.
This exhibition has been loaned through the Bank of America Art in our Communities® program.
Myrlande Constant (Haitian, b. 1968), Ague Taroyo, 2007. Beads and sequins on cloth. Collection of Ed and Ann Gessen.
The Tampa Museum of Art acquired its first drapo Vodou, or Vodou flag, over twenty-five years ago. Myrlande Constant’s flag Papa Zaka/St. Isidore was gifted to the collection by notable Haitian art collectors Kay and Roderick Heller. An early work by Constant, the flag reflects the customary size and imagery associated with this most beloved tradition of Haiti’s sacred arts. At the center of the composition is a depiction of a lwa, or deity, from the Vodou pantheon and a geometric border frames the image. Over time, Constant’s flags have increased in scale and visual complexity. Constant’s work represents a different approach to flagmaking—notably she is one the few women working in a medium traditionally associated with Vodou priests and male artisans. For the past 30 years, she has pushed the boundaries of the medium with her approach to color, light, and pattern. Today, Constant is celebrated as one of Haiti’s most accomplished contemporary artists and her art is exhibited across the world.
Born in Port-au-Prince, Constant was raised by her mother Jane Constant, a seamstress. In her teens, she worked with her mother in one of Haiti’s textile factories that made wedding dresses for brides in the US and Europe. Poor conditions and minimal wages caused her to quit, and she pursued the craft of flagmaking. Although she is versed in Vodou practices, Constant views her art in relation to textiles and painting, rather than as ritual flags. Distinct from her male contemporaries, Constant’s flags incorporate the tambour stitch, a technique she learned at the textile factory that allows her to create different textures and depth with sequins and beads. She also works in reverse—after drawing the image on cloth attached to supports, Constant and her assistants sew each bead from the underside and out of their view. The final picture is revealed once the cloth is turned over for inspection.
Judy Dater (American, b. 1941), Self-Portrait at Salt Flats, 1981. Gelatin silver print. David Hall Collection.
Focal Point: The David Hall Photography Collection presents 40 works from the holdings of Tampa-based collector and photographer David Hall. With over 400 works in the collection, the pictures on view present a sample of the photographers and images David admired as a lifelong photo enthusiast. The collection shares the story of photography in the 20th century as the medium evolved from historical documentation to an admired form of visual art. David was interested in the history of photography and held a special passion for photographs made between World War One and World War Two, a transformative period in art.
This intimate exhibition is loosely organized by the themes prevalent in the David Hall Collection. Many of the images on view represent iconic works from the photographers’ oeuvre, such as Ruth Orkin’s American Girl in Italy, Young Farmers by August Sander, and Ansel Adams’ Half Dome in Yosemite National Park. Print publications, such as LIFE magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, and Vogue, employed and championed trailblazing photographers such as Richard Avedon, Alfred Eisenstaedt, and Philippe Halsman, who shot memorable moments of the 20th century.
The David Hall Collection also includes important works by Group f/64, the California collective of photographers who forged a new aesthetic in opposition to the dominant photographic trends in New York. Pictures by Adams, Ruth Bernhard, and Edward Weston represent the “pure photography” style of Group f/64. A small group of works by David’s San Francisco-based photographer friends—such as Judy Dater, Richard Hartman, Polly Gaillard, and Lisa Law—allude to his own time spent in California.
Women, either as the photographer or subject, represent a significant number of works in the collection. As highlighted by the works on view in Focal Point, women photographers created groundbreaking bodies of work. Berenice Abbott, Diane Arbus, and Lillian Bassman were at the forefront of artistic innovation at a time when women did not receive the same recognition or support as their male counterparts. Portraits of women—ranging from the muse, the nude, the artist, or the sister—reveal the sitters’ sense of confidence, resilience, joy, and grace, as well as their ease in the company of the photographer.
About David Hall
David Hall (1944 – 2024) was an arts advocate, philanthropist, music enthusiast, photographer, and collector. A Tampa native, David graduated from Plant High School and the University of South Florida. The San Francisco Bay Area was a second home to David, who spent numerous years living between California and Florida with his partner Judy Tampa. David loved cameras from an early age and studied photography at UC Berkeley with Judy Dater. He simultaneously took pictures and collected photography, but focused on the latter more intently when he returned to Tampa permanently. David was one of the co-founders of the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts (FMoPA) and a supporter of arts organizations, including the Tampa Museum of Art. Focal Point: The David Hall Photography Collection pays tribute to David, his legacy, and contributions to Tampa’s arts community.
Exhibition Sponsored in part by:
The Frank E. Duckwall Fund at the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay
Chauncey Foster Ryder (American, 1868–1949) Untitled, c. 1900s Oil on canvas Collection of Roger Kipp and Mark Wollard
In the 1880s, Impressionism made its way to America from Europe and became a national style of painting in the United States that remains widely beloved to this day. With roots in France, Impressionism launched in 1874 with an avant-garde exhibition by Parisian painters—Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas and others—who challenged traditional painting styles of the time. Although Impressionism in France experienced a period of popularity for only a decade, it captivated young American artists abroad who were inspired by the painters’ ability to capture light and color through observation and plein air painting.
In the 19th-century, Paris was the center of the art world and artists flocked to the city to study art in its esteemed academies and famous museums. The École des Beaux-Arts, the oldest and most admired art academy in France, was highly selective of its students. Many Americans studied at Académie Julian where the language requirement was less strict and more significantly, open to accepting female artists. American painters were initially bewildered by and then beguiled by the Impressionist movement. They adapted to this new direction and in turn inspired other artists, art dealers, and American collectors, including Industrialists Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, and Andrew Mellon, to embrace Impressionist art. Artists featured in American Gaze, such as Mary Cassatt, Childe Hassam, William Merritt Chase, and Theodore Robinson, helped introduce this new approach to painting to American audiences.
The modern age was upon America. Like their European counterparts, the American Impressionists were inspired by the philosophy that painting what they knew and what they experienced firsthand was more truthful and thus more meaningful. Rather than capturing the past or historical moments on canvas, the artists were more interested in painting fleeting moments in the untouched landscape and the modernization of cities in the young nation. Artist colonies on the eastern seaboard, such as Shinnecock Hills in Long Island, founded by William Merrit Chase, and Childe Hassam, who taught off the New Hampshire coast, created a stronghold for Impressionism in the United States.
American Impressionism developed its own identity—one deeply intertwined with the country’s social, cultural, and historical shifts. American Gaze: Impressionism, Paintings from Tampa Bay Collections celebrates the contributions of American Impressionists from the late 1800s to the 1930s, a period of great transformation in the United States. The exhibition features six sections with over 60 paintings on view: Impression, French Influencers; Light Shifts; Figures and Flora; Countryside; and American Gaze. Together, the paintings highlight how American Impressionists captured the beauty of their surroundings and reveals a broader story of artistic evolution in the United States.
Cora Bowen Layers Of Identity Mixed Media Blake High School, Grade 11 Art Teacher: Linda GalganiVerity Skelton Sun On My Skin Acrylic Gibbs High School, Grade 12 Art Teacher: Brian McAllisterZayla Semmons Rebirth in the Forest Ceramic Freedom High School, Grade 12 Art Teacher: Helen KirkYazmin Hernandez-Ramirez Waving Colors Digital Photography Plant City High School, Grade 12 Art Teacher: Niki CarpenterRamsey Mom Self Portrait- Sea Of Green Mixed Media Spoto High School, Grade 9 Art Teacher: David ConnellGabrielle Marquez Casa Batlló Graphite Academy Of The Holy Names, Grade 12 Art Teacher: Melissa Lima
This annual high school art exhibition features exemplary work created by high school students throughout the 14th Congressional District and Hillsborough County. Students compete for two top prizes: the Museum Choice Award and the Congressional Choice Award. The artwork selected for the Congressional Choice Award will continue to represent the district in the National Congressional High School Art Competition, hanging in the Cannon Tunnel of the U.S. Capitol for one year.
The 14th Congressional District and Next Generation High School Art Competition is presented in partnership with the Office of U.S. Representative, Kathy Castor.
Presenting Sponsor:
Special thanks to the judging committee and award sponsors for their support
Bust of Young Woman (Maenad) Terracotta sculpture; Aquae Salviae, Latium (?), Italy; Archaic period, ca. 525-475 ʙᴄᴇ TAMPA MUSEUM OF ART, GIFT OF AARON AND KARIE BENNETT, 2024.477 Photography by Branko van Oppen
Hercle, Defender God Bronze figurine; Etruria, Italy; Hellenistic period, ca. 3rd cent. ʙᴄᴇ TAMPA MUSEUM OF ART, BEQUEST FROM THE ESTATE OF DR. RICHARD E. AND MRS. MARY B. PERRY, 2022.009 Photography by Philip LaDeau
The Etruscans are a fascinating ancient Italian people about whom much remains a mystery. They inhabited an area of central Italy – present-day Tuscany and beyond – immediately north of Latium where the city Rome later rose to power. Emerging from the Iron Age “Villanovan” culture (ca. 900-700 ʙᴄᴇ), the Etruscans reached their zenith in the second quarter of the first millennium ʙᴄᴇ. Over the centuries, Etruscan art and culture retained its distinct identity. Yet, they were variously influenced by Celtic and Central European, Roman and Greek, Punic and Phoenician civilizations. The Etruscans were gradually subsumed by Rome over the course of a long process of acculturation (ca. 5th-1st cent. ʙᴄᴇ).
The permanent antiquities collection of the Tampa Museum of Art holds some 70 Etruscan objects covering a period of about 750 years (ca. 9th-1st cent. ʙᴄᴇ). This ensemble, the largest public collection of its kinds in the southeastern United States, has never been displayed together before. Comprising jewelry and cosmetics, bronze statuettes and metalware, terracotta figurines and earthenware, including cinerary urns, these objects illustrate aspects of everyday life and death, pottery production, myth and religion. The presentation of the Etruscan Collection is part of a series of long-term exhibitions highlighting the Museum’s permanent collection.
What little is known about the ancient Etruscans inhabiting central Italy and beyond is largely due to their interactions with the Romans. No historical accounts of their own have come down to us. Their language can be deciphered and is partially understood, but its origin remains uncertain. Etruscan is considered a Paleo-European Language, predating and thus unrelated to Indo-European languages such as Greek and Latin. The Iron Age “Villanovan” culture (ca. 900-700 ʙᴄᴇ), first discovered in the north Italian town of Villanova near Bologna, is now considered the earliest appearance of a distinct Etruscan culture. The Etruscan city-states in central Italy reached their pinnacle in the Archaic and Classical periods (ca. 700-350 ʙᴄᴇ), after which the Etruscans were gradually acculturated by the growing power of Rome.
Etruscan states maintained contact and were variously influenced by surrounding civilizations in central and southern Europe as well as northern Africa, particularly Greece and Rome, Carthage and Egypt. Gaining their wealth through international copper and iron trade, independent city states joined into an Etruscan federation. The Etruscan nobility participated in an elite culture of exchange, involving lavish banquets and gift-giving, connecting Etruria to south Italy and the Greek world. The elite’s wealth was displayed in rich jewelry; their military power was reflected in impressive armor. Etruscan art and artifacts include bronze and terracotta statues, architecture and ornaments, metalware and glossy black-slip ceramics. Their culture is best known today from surviving tombs and sanctuaries. Tombs held human-form coffins or ash urns, conveying a prominent position of noblewomen. Elaborate frescoes adorned tomb walls, depicting mythology, banquets, and daily life, emphasizing the Etruscans’ belief in the afterlife and the importance of commemorating the departed. Etruscan pantheon gradually incorporated elements of Greek, Roman, and other influences. Priests played a significant role in interpreting the will of the gods through divination.
Figurative Ash Box (Cinerary Urn) Terracotta vessel; Clusium, Etruria, Italy; Hellenistic period, ca. 200-150 ʙᴄᴇ TAMPA MUSEUM OF ART, GIFT OF ROBERT AND JANETTE MOODY, 1986.285.a-b Photography by Philip LaDeau
Portrait of a Youth Terracotta sculpture; Etruria, Italy; Hellenistic period, ca. 250-150 ʙᴄᴇ ON LOAN FROM A SARASOTA PRIVATE COLLECTION (2023-12-12.3) Photography courtesy of the owner
Pepe Mar, b. 1977, The Deep End, 2022. Mixed media on wood panel in artist’s plexi box. 60 x 48 x 10 inches. Tampa Museum of Art, Gift of Stanton Storer, 2024.428.
In this refreshed presentation of the Tampa Museum of Art’s permanent collection, Here and Now: Selections from the Contemporary Collection highlights key holdings and new acquisitions of contemporary art. With a focus on art of the moment or art of our time, Here and Now nods to the collecting history of the Museum, as well as the significance of the present—the materials, narratives, and events informing contemporary art making. As the works in this gallery demonstrate, contemporary artists portray life around them from the vantage point of observer, inquisitor, cartographer, or cultural historian. Moreover, the works on view often blur the boundaries of traditional media—for example paintings may be emphasized by sculptural or photographic materials; the ready made or found object serves as the source of inspiration; or an assortment of various images creates a whole picture.
Collection building is ongoing, with generations of curators building TMA’s holdings through thoughtful additions. Gaps in art historical timelines or genres are present in almost every museum collection. Borrowing art helps bridge gaps from a specific era or area of the globe. As TMA’s contemporary acquisitions continue to grow, Here and Now will also feature meaningful loaned artworks by significant artists to further contextualize the collection. For example, the monumental collage Untitled by Los Angeles-based artist Mark Bradford and the sculptural painting Sondela Forever by South African painter Simphiwe Ndzube, both on loan from private collectors, present nuanced explorations of home, place, and self—major themes within TMA’s collection. Over time, the selections in this gallery will rotate with artworks representative of the here and now.
Manuel Mendive (Cuban, b. 1944) Alimenta a mi gallo y se alimenta mi espíritu (Feed My Rooster and Feed My Spirit), 1998 Oil in canvas Framed: 80 x 60 x 3 inches The Rice Collection
Wilfredo Lam (Cuban, 1902 – 1982) Untitled, 1973 Oil on canvas Framed: 36 x 32 ½ x 3 inches The Rice Collection
José Bedia (Cuban, b. 1959) Más de lo mismo y uno de necio (More of the Same and One of the Foolishness), 2000 Ink, conte crayon, white chalk, and pastel on amate paper Framed: 50 x 97 x 4 inches The Rice Collection
When it comes to art, the Rice Family’s first visit to Cuba in 2013 was as memorable as it was pivotal to their vocation as collectors. Cuban art became a gateway to embrace the heart and mind of a fascinating culture and its people. Collecting was no longer a hobby, but a passion, and over time the Rices would fall completely “under the spell” of Cuban art. For a decade, Susie and Mitchell’s Cuban Art Collection has been growing consistently in scope and quality, now treasuring the works of more than seventy artists from different generations and aesthetics.
The exhibition deviates from a traditional historical narrative and is presented as a compass rather than a timeline―a map for a journey through the varying themes, genres, and styles that align with the sensibilities of two generations of collectors in the Rice family. This first of six sections, The Language of Forms and the Forms of Language includes early works that demonstrate an affinity for abstraction among some Cuban pioneers of modernism in the late 1940s. The works in The Prophet’s Dream delineate both political and social awareness and the critical communal identity present in Cuban art through generations subsequent to the Cuban Revolution of 1959.
Cuba is described as an island-nation, a term that refers not only to its physical and geographic properties―the cluster of islands, islets and keys that form the biggest archipelago in the Antilles―but also the people who inhabit it. The works in The Great Journey: Archives express the trauma of national exile and the artists’ relationship to Cuba. The section Sensory Landscapes of Memory and Desire delineates the more hedonistic and whimsical imagery that percolates through Cuban contemporary art. These works exude eroticism, playfulness, intimate longings, and explorations into the depths of memory.
The Musings of Narcissus: Through the Looking Glass and What the Artist Found There, the fifth thematic section, examines a range of self-referential works of art and offers a glimpse into the process and philosophy of Cuban artists exploring self-representation and the body. Lastly, The Spirit of the Real, the Reality of the Spirit presents work born of the artists’ spiritual experiences. In most of the works in this section, mythological and symbolic elements from African-Cuban religions underlie or are at the foreground of both the narrative and the visual structure of the artworks.
Under the Spell of the Palm Tree: The Rice Collection of Cuban Art features the work of:
Abel Barroso Adrián Fernandez Alberto Lago Alex Hernández Alexi Torres Alfredo Sosabravo Ángel Ramírez & Jacqueline Maggi Antonio Vidal Belkis Ayón Carlos Enríquez Carlos Garaicoa Cundo Bermúdez Duo Ponjuán (René Francisco & Eduardo Ponjuán)
Emilio Sánchez Enrique Riverón Ernesto Javier Fernández Ernesto Leal Esterio Segura Frank Mujica Glenda León Inti Hernández Iván Capote Jesús Hernández-Güero Jorge Lavoy José Alberto Figueroa José Ángel Toirac José Ángel Vincench
José Bedia José Rosabal Juan Roberto Diago Querol Kádir López Lázaro Saavedra Liset Castillo Mabel Poblet Manuel Mendive Marco Castillo Mario Carreño Pedro de Oraá Pedro Pablo Oliva Rafael Soriano
René Francisco Rodríguez Rene Portocarrero Reynier Leyva Novo (Chino Novo) Ricardo Miguel Hernández Roberto Diago Roberto Fabelo Salvador Corratgé Sandra Ramos Tania Bruguera Tomás Sánchez Waldo Díaz-Balart Wifredo Lam
Mario Carreño (Cuban, 1913 – 1999) The Farm, 1945 Oil on canvas Framed: 40 x 46 x 3 inches The Rice Collection
Roberto Diago (Cuban, 1920 – 1955) Presente en tu vida (Present in Your Life), 2011 Mixed media on canvas Framed: 51 x 39 ¼ x 2 inches The Rice Collection
Gaetano Pedo (Italian, active c. 1880s), Herm of Pericles, c. 1880s. Albumen print. 10 1/16 × 7 5/16 inches. Tampa Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. William Knight Zewadski, 1989.109.182
Athena Promachos Ceramic vessel (ps-Panathenaic amphora; attr. to near Eucharides Painter); Attica, Greece; late Archaic period, c. 490–480 ʙᴄᴇ. On Loan from a Sarasota Private Collection, IL.2024.008.001
The U.S. democratic constitution was in large part inspired by the popular government of Classical Athens, as well as the Roman Republic and the French Enlightenment. During the 2024 Presidential Elections, the Tampa Museum of Art will highlight the ancient Greek city-state Athens, as the birthplace of democracy. There, between the 6th and 4th centuries bce, male citizens gained power in a form of government based on the rule of law.
The exhibition is based on the Museum’s extensive collection of 19th century photography, paired with a dozen antiquities from the permanent collection as well as some significant loans. Ancient Athens: Birthplace of Democracy illustrates archaeological site such as the Acropolis, the arts and culture of Classical Athens such as sculpture and ceramic vases, theater and athletics, as well as the gods and goddesses worshipped in the city. The exhibition allows visitors to contemplate the ideals of the society that gave birth to democracy.
From the sixth through the fifth century bce, political reforms broke the power of the nobility (aristokratia) and eventually gave way to popular government (dēmokratia) in ancient Athens. Organized into an independent city-state (polis) that included the countryside of Attica, Athens became the bastion of freedom and democracy, and the beacon of Classical civilization at the height of Greek art and culture. Only one of the hundreds of city-states across the Greek world that witnessed the rise of popular government, Athens may rightfully be considered the birthplace of democracy not only because it is the most famous and best-documented case but also because it was the state with the largest population at the time in which democracy reached its most radical form.
During the Presidential Election in the United States in 2024, the birth of democracy in ancient Athens gains additional historical relevance. The legacy of Classical Athens goes back two and a half thousand years. Its art continues to inspire contemporary artists. Greek myths and legends, tragedies and comedies inspire modern literature, cinema and theater. This exhibition aims to examine what the original ideals of democracy, liberty and justice for all, equality before the law and the pursuit of happiness still mean today.
Fratelli Alinari (Italian, est. 1852), Discobolus, c. 1880. Albumen print. 10 × 7 ½ inches. Tampa Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. William Knight Zewadski, 1999.078
Dimitris Constantin (Greek, active c. 1858–1870) (attributed to), Acropolis Excavated (Kritios Boy and the Moschophoros), 1866. Albumen silver print from a glass plate. 10 × 8 inches. On Loan from the Collection of William Knight Zewadski, IL.2024.041
Ancient Athens: Birthplace of Democracy is sponsored in part by:
the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs Cultural Endowment Fund, the Frank E. Duckwall Foundation, the Tampa Museum of Art Foundation’s Richard E. Perry Cultural Endowment Fund, the Gus Lemonopoulos Fund of the Tampa Bay Community Foundation, and William Knight Zewadski.
Watch an Art Perspectives Episode: In this episode, Branko van Oppen, the Richard E. Perry Curator of Greek and Roman Art, takes us on a tour of the exhibition Ancient Athens: The Birthplace of Democracy at the Tampa Museum of Art. Explore the fascinating world of Ancient Athens with a variety of ancient artifacts and modern photographs that bring history to life. Showcasing themes of mythology, justice, and politics, the episodes delves into the history of ancient Athens and how it contributed to the foundations of modern democracy.
Watch the Classical Antiquities Lecture:Dr. Jennifer Roberts (City College of New York) returns to ancient Athens, the birthplace of democracy, to trace the political reforms that shifted power from the nobility to the people. The lecture examines who was excluded from Athenian democracy, including women, enslaved people, and immigrants.
Watch the Panel Discussion: Sheramy Bundrick, Scott Perry, Jennifer Roberts and Branko van Oppen continue the examination of ancient democracy and its influences on modern politics. The discussion focuses on the development of popular government in ancient Greece, its impact on the foundation of the United States of America. The panel will engage the audience in a debate about current events and lessons learned from the near and distant past.
Explore a 3D Scan of the Exhibition: A 360° virtual tour through the exhibition of Ancient Athens: The Birthplace of Democracy is provided by the University of South Florida’s Institute for Digital Exploration (USF IDEx), courtesy of Dr. Davide Tanasi. You can experience the works on display in the gallery from the comfort of your own home!
On view September 13, 2024, through September 28, 2025
Venus Statuette Bone figurine; Egypt; Roman Imperial period, ca. 1st–4th cent. ᴄᴇ ON LOAN FROM THE COLLECTION OF DR. ROBERT STEVEN BIANCHI (2009.005)
Vase with Altars and Fish Ceramic vessel; Egypt; late Antique—Byzantine period, ca. 4th–7th cent. ᴄᴇ ON LOAN FROM THE COLLECTION OF DR. ROBERT STEVEN BIANCHI (X.400)
The word “Copt” refers to the native population of Egypt, many of whom converted to Christianity in the early centuries of the Roman period. Tradition maintains that the Holy Family sojourned in Egypt and that Saint Mark, the Evangelist, established the first Christian church in Egypt in Alexandria in the first century. The Copts shared a common material culture with their polytheistic neighbors. Imperial edicts established Christianity as the religion of the empire in the late 4th century, which allowed the Coptic community to flourish.
The Art of Coptic Egypt showcases over fifty artifacts from a local private collection dating from early centuries of the Roman Imperial to the Middle Ages, although special attention is given to objects specifically associated with the Coptic church. Today, there is still a thriving, vibrant Coptic community in Egypt and beyond, including in Tampa.
The noun “Copt” and the adjective “Coptic” are etymologically derived from الْقِبْط, al-qibt, an abbreviated Arabic transcription of the Greek Αἴγυπτοs, Aigyptos, that in turn is based on the ancient Egyptian phrase Hut-ka-Ptah, the temple of Ptah, which was used to refer to the city of Memphis as a substitute for Egypt as a whole. (Compare our use of the phrase “the White House” as a substitute for the U.S. government.) Initially, the noun “Copt” was applied to non-Arabic speaking non-Muslims living in Egypt. Eventually, it came to identify the native Egyptians who converted to Christianity since the early centuries of the Roman Imperial Period.
During these early centuries the Copts living in Egypt were part of the Roman Empire. They shared a common material culture with their polytheistic neighbors—those who worship many gods. That culture derived in part from pharaonic Egypt, as well as Greece and Rome. Intimately bound to the first generations of Christianity, Egypt also witness severe persecutions under the Roman Empire. The liturgical calendar of the Coptic Church actually marks its beginning from 284 of the common era—the Anno Martyrum (“Year of the Martyrs”)—the year Emperor Diocletian came to the throne and under whose reign the second wave of persecutions took place.
The provisions of the Edict of Milan promulgated by Emperor Constantine the Great (313 ᴄᴇ) removed the stigma of being a Christian. The Edict of Thessalonica, issued by Emperor Theodosius I (380 ᴄᴇ), established Christianity as the only recognized religion across the Empire. The Coptic community flourished even after the fall of Alexandria to ‛Amr ibn al-‛As (641 ᴄᴇ), which ushered in the Islamic Period, when many traditions of the Copts were allowed to continue. The objects on display in this exhibition are part of the private collection of renowned Egyptologist and Fine Arts Historian Dr. Robert Steven Bianchi.
Pilgrim Flask Depicting St. Menas with two camels Ceramic vessel (ampula); Abu Mina, Egypt; late Antique—Byzantine period, ca. 4th–7th cent. ᴄᴇ ON LOAN FROM THE COLLECTION OF DR. ROBERT STEVEN BIANCHI (X.700)
Psalm Book With Arabic and Coptic Texts Paper, leather bound book; Egypt; Modern period, ca. 18th–19th cent. ON LOAN FROM THE COLLECTION OF DR. ROBERT STEVEN BIANCHI (X.7000)
