Introductory remarks by Philippe de Montebello

Jerrilynn D. Dodds is Harlequin Adair Dammann Chair in Islamic Studies at Sarah Lawrence College. BA, Barnard College. MA, PhD, Harvard University. Work has centered on issues of artistic interchange—in particular, among Christians, Jews, and Muslims—and how groups form identities through art and architecture; special interest in the arts of Spain and the history of architecture. Author of Architecture and Ideology in Early Medieval Spain and NY Masjid: The Mosques of New York and co-author of Arts of Intimacy: Christians, Jews, and Muslims in the Making of Castilian Culture, among other books and publications. Dean of the College, 2009-15. SLC, 2009.

Philippe de Montebello is the Fiske Kimball Professor in the History and Culture of Museums. Philippe de Montebello retired at the end of 2008 from the Metropolitan Museum of Art after serving for 32 years as its longest tenured director. He is its first Director Emeritus.