This exhibition brings together works of premodern art from the Wyvern Collection (London, United Kingdom) with the collections of the Bowdoin College Museum of Art to explore the deep ties that linked Asia, the Near East, North Africa, and Europe from the fifth through the fifteenth centuries. These works of art also demonstrate the ways that artists and craftspeople mastered diverse technologies, conveyed compelling artistic visions, and used both everyday and exotic materials. At the same time, these dazzling artworks also enable us to recognize the deep cultural, religious, and economic ties that linked far-flung portions of the world for over a millennium.  

Medieval Art from the Wyvern Collection represents the first of a series of installations featuring premodern objects on loan to Bowdoin College from the Wyvern Collection. These rotating exhibitions will serve as a visual laboratory for classes from across the College’s curriculum, while also inviting visitors to reflect upon the visual and material connections between multiple centers of human creativity.  

This exhibition is curated by Stephen Perkinson, Professor of Art History. Many more Bowdoin faculty, staff, and students contributed to the conceptualization and implementation of the exhibition, including Cassandra Mesick Braun, David Gordon, Guo Jue, Aaron Kitch, Sean Kramer, Cam Meyer ’28, Vyjayanthi Selinger, Maggie Solberg, Rachel Sturman, and Marianna Zingone ’26.  

The Bowdoin College Museum of Art offers special thanks to the generous, enthusiastic, and longstanding benefactors whose extended loan and additional support made these objects from the Wyvern Collection available for exhibition and research. The installation is further supported by the Stevens L. Frost Endowment Fund.