| 1 | Name: | Dr. Prudence Oliver Harper | |
| Institution: | Metropolitan Museum of Art | ||
| Year Elected: | 1994 | ||
| Class: | 4. Humanities | ||
| Subdivision: | 401. Archaeology | ||
| Residency: | Resident | ||
| Living? : | Living | ||
| Birth Date: | 1933 | ||
Curator Emerita Prudence Oliver Harper joined the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Department of the Ancient Near East in 1958. She received her Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1977 and became curator and head of the Department of Ancient Near East in 1982. Over the course of her career, Dr. Harper led the installation of the museum's Ancient Near Eastern Art galleries, published the results of a major archaeological enterprise (Sasanian Remains from Qasr-i Abu Nasr, 1973) and compiled a thoughtful exhibition on an iconographic and ideological theme with a very important catalog (The Royal Hunter, 1978). The first volume of her Sasanian Silver Vessels (1981), together with a large set of articles, is the standard study of royal images in Late Antique Sasanian art. Her articles on Anatolian ivories and Neo-Babylonian clay scultpures also demonstrate the breadth of her knowledge. Dr. Harper has also been instrumental in maintaining and fostering continuous contacts with scholars in Russia, especially during difficult times. A member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, Dr. Harper has also served as chair of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Curatorial Forum and on the editorial board of the Metropolitan Museum Journal. | |||