Produced over the course of roughly 500 years, the Benin bronzes provide an aesthetically rich record of life in the thriving Benin kingdom, located in the tropical forests of what is now south-central Nigeria. They show the evolution of the empire’s second dynasty, which is believed to have begun in the 13th century and continues to this day.

After the dynasty’s founding, successive obas, or kings, built up the capital, known today as Benin City, through measures such as digging a moat and erecting inner and outer walls to protect the enormous royal palace. The result was an urban center and court complex that would have rivaled the largest contemporaneous European cities. “[The palace] is indeed so large as the city of Harlem [sp], and is completely surrounded with a special wall,” a Dutch visitor wrote in an account published around 1600. “It is divided into many magnificent apartments, and has beautiful and long square galleries, which are about as large as the Exchange in Amsterdam.”

Because much of Benin’s history has been passed down orally over centuries, scholars offer differing accounts of when and how certain events and changes occurred, including the development of metal sculpture into an integral part of Benin’s royal culture. Some attribute the rise of bronze casting to the rule of Oba Oguola in the late 13th century. Others suggest that the flourishing of artistic production took place under Oba Ewuare; enthroned around 1440, Ewuare is largely credited with ushering in what is regarded as the golden age of Benin. The effort to make Benin one of the region’s most powerful and influential kingdoms was furthered by Ewuare’s successors—most notably Oba Ozolua, nicknamed “The Conqueror,” who took the throne around 1481, and Oba Esigie, who was enthroned around 1504 and ruled for nearly half a century.