University loans historic painting to major New York exhibition

A historic painting with links to William Shakespeare has gone on display at New York 's Metropolitan Museum of Art - thanks to the University of Birmingham.

The university has loaned the painting - a portrait from the 1600s of Moroccan Ambassador Abd el-Ouahed ben Messaoud ben Mohammed Anoun - to the museum as part of the exhibition The Tudors: Art and Majesty in Renaissance England.

Abd el-Ouahed ben Messaoud ben Mohammed Anoun led an embassy to London in 1600 to deepen trade and diplomatic links between Britain and Morocco.

It is thought that the Ambassador may have influenced Shakespeare 's depiction of Othello.

The portrait of the Ambassador - which normally hangs in the Shakespeare Institute, in Stratford-upon Avon - is on display at The Met until 14 May 2023.

It will then move to the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco to be exhibited between June and September.

A delegation from UoB included Pro-Vice-Chancellor (International), Robin Mason, and director of the Shakespeare Institute, Professor Michael Dobson, who received private tours of the exhibition.

UoB also held a civic dinner and tour, where they welcomed the Mayor of Hamilton and Lord Mayor of Birmingham for a Birmingham2022 legacy discussion.

Through its Shakespeare Institute, the University of Birmingham is one of the major hubs for Shakespeare studies worldwide.

Professor Michael Dobson said: “Given the ongoing global popularity of Shakespeare 's work, the portrait adds a fascinating dimension to the exhibition, since Abdul el-Ouahed 's visit to London has many resonances with Shakespeare 's Othello.

“This portrait is one of the most vivid souvenirs of the London in which Shakespeare was living, around the time he began dramatising a little Italian short story about a well-travelled Moorish warrior whose allegiances between the Islamic and Christian worlds are called into question. ”