Excerpt from a new publication in celebration of tenth anniversary of the museum's African American Advisory Committee which has nurtured the museum's collecting of art by African American artists.

After a seven-year hiatus, the Cleveland Museum of Art’s late medieval, Renaissance and Islamic collections have returned to public view. The artwork is showcased in the recently renovated galleries of the first level of the museum’s original 1916 Beaux-Arts building, designed by Hubbell and Benes. Within each historical area, objects are organized thematically and incorporate a variety of media. The installations are presented in integrated displays that foster an understanding of the social and historical contexts within which these works of art were produced.

This extremely rare Romanesque wood sculpture depicts the Virgin Mary’s role in important Christian doctrine. It belongs to a type known as Sedes Sapientiae (the Throne of Wisdom). The subject shows the Virgin Mary’s role as principal mediator between God and man in the Incarnation, the moment in which Christ became human. In this sculpture, Mary is seated frontally and hieratically on a throne.

With the Christmas holiday season in full swing, we asked Heather Lemonedes, Curator of Drawings, to discuss inspirations and influences of Madonna and Child imagery in the work of Mary Cassatt. Mary Cassatt and the Feminine Ideal in 19th-Century Paris is on view through January 21, 2013.

According to a chapter on Featherwork in Wari: Lords of the Ancient Andes, textiles covered with brilliant feathers of rain forest birds are among the most striking works create by textile artists in Pre-Columbia Peru. Let’s take a more detailed looked at one of the examples from our permanent collection that is on view in the exhibition.