Feeling cooped up? Missing international travel or the opportunity to visit first-class museums in new and interesting cities? Here’s something the perk up the pandemic winter doldrums!
The Hungarian National Museum is running a wonderful virtual exhibit featuring some of the most spectacular items from their early medieval collection. It is called “A Country for Women?” The exhibit explores the lives of women in the Carpathian basin–from the Hunnic period in the 5th century through the Hungarian conquest in the 10th century–as discerned through the remnants of their material culture. This includes the period of Lombard and Gepid occupation in the 6th century. Some of these object are quite well known, but the photographs taken for the exhibit cast them in a beautiful light. You can really see every detail in high-resolution splendor!
The exhibit does a great job of interpretation, placing objects their larger cultural context. It’s wonderful to see how archeology can serve as a bridge to a distant culture. The objects speak to us of women’s role in society, of their faith and beliefs, and of how they moved through the world around them.
It’s fascinating to see how museums can make themselves accessible to visitors even at a time when travel is difficult. If you have any curiosity about this time period, I encourage you to take a look:
A Queen's Cup 