Al Abbas antique

01/01/2026

🎄Christians around the world celebrate Christmas today. ✨🙏

!🎁

Some of the earliest coins to carry a Christian symbol belonged to Roman Emperor Magnentius. 🪙✝️

The symbol is called a Chi Rho, or a “Christogram,” a combination of the first two Greek letters of “Christ.”

Magnentius served under Emperor Constantine, Rome’s first emperor to convert to Christianity. 👑🕊️

AE 25, Emperor Magnentius, Ancient Rome, 350-353 CE

19/04/2025

🐰 ‘Hoppy’ Easter weekend!

Love from the BM and Beatrix’s bunnies 🐇

🖼 (1866–1943), Illustration for page 23 of 'The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies'. Watercolour on paper, England, 1909.

19/04/2025

‘Be patient, my heart: for you have endured things worse than this before.’ – Homer
Ralph Fiennes journeyed to the British Museum to join us for a special screening of ‘The Return’, the latest adaptation of the ‘Odyssey’. Fiennes plays the legendary role of Odysseus and the epic tale of his homecoming back to Ithaca. He also made time to see the bust of Homer.

See ‘The Return’ in cinemas now.

📷John Harding

08/03/2025

‘Once upon a time, I dreamt I was a butterfly...’ 🦋

The painting alludes to a conundrum posed by the 4th century BC Chinese philosopher Zhuang Zhou (known as Zhuangzi) about the nature of reality.

In the story, Zhuangzi dreams he is a butterfly, forgetting his human self. When he wakes up, he questions whether he dreamed of a butterfly, or if he is a butterfly dreaming he is Zhuangzi.

08/03/2025

08/03/2025

This Danish/English penny of King Harthacnut is for his second reign of England.

He lost control to his half-brother Harold for 3 years while stuck in Denmark securing his power.

Harold was meant to be temporary, but proclaimed himself as King.

When Harold died, Harthacnut took over England, then had Harold’s body dug up and tossed in the Thames. They must not have been close.

1 penny, England, 1040-1042

08/03/2025

Ramadan Mubarak to all those observing! 🌙✨

This sacred month is a time for reflection, prayer, and community, observed by millions of Muslims around the world.

In this 1673 Safavid painting, a noblewoman kneels in quiet contemplation and prayer – an image that beautifully echoes the spirit of mindfulness and devotion central to Ramadan.

26/02/2025

On this day 525 years ago, Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, was born.

🖼️ Dirk Volkertsz Coornhert (1522-1590) after Maarten van Heemskerck (1498-1574), ‘The Victories of Emperor Charles V’. Engraving, etching and letterpress, Netherlands, c. 1555.

26/02/2025

‘Why shouldn't art be pretty? There are enough unpleasant things in the world without the need to make more.’

Wise words from Pierre-Auguste Renoir, the French Impressionist painter known for his vibrant works that often depicted scenes of leisure and beauty.

Renoir painted well into old age, overcoming the arthritis in his hands by strapping paint brushes to them. He was born in 1841.

26/02/2025

🤔What did the Museum acquire in 2024?

Read all about it on the blog.

Last year we focused on the institutions that helped shape our collection—helping us obtain items far beyond anything collectible by the public.

👉 https://bit.ly/4gTRJs1

26/02/2025

Liking this vessel an oce-lot 😸

🐈 Offering vessel in the form of an ocelot. Calcite onyx, from Mexico, 400–600 AD.

15/02/2025