The Palace in Benin City

In the 16th century, the kings of Benin ruled over more than two million subjects in an area similar to the size of New England. During this period, the sprawling palace in Benin City was made up of many courtyards able to host large crowds, as well as private areas for the royal family and members of the court. One of the courtyards was ornamented by more than 850 bronze plaques attached to the square pillars that supported the roof of the veranda that shaded the perimeter of the space. Some of these plaques are now in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. A Dutch trader who visited the king in the 1640s wrote the earliest remaining letter that mentions the plaques, and his admiring testimony helps us understand what the interior of the palace looked like in the 16th and 17th centuries. As you look through the following slides, imagine the plaques brightly shining in the sunlight of the courtyard.