The art of the crusaders in the Holy Land, 1098-1187

the long version

The Art of the Crusaders in the Holy Land, 1098-1187 examines the art and architecture produced for the invading Crusaders in Syria-Palestine during the first century of their quest to recapture and control the holy sites of Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Nazareth. Commissioned by kings and queens, patriarchs, bishops, knights, and merchants who came as pilgrims or settlers to the Holy Land, it is an art of manuscript illumination, fresco painting, mosaics, stone sculpture, metalwork, ivory carving, embroidery, coins, and seals by artists trained in the Latin West and the Crusader, Byzantine, and Islamic East. Combining the multicultural traditions of these regions, Crusader art defies easy categorization. Indeed, it is a unique phenomenon within the spectrum of medieval art. Based on years of research, The Art of the Crusaders in the Holy Land, the initial volume in a two-part survey, is the first comprehensive study of all the arts, which are considered together within their historical context. Charting stylistic and iconographic evolution, this study identifies the main phases of artistic development from its origins through its flourishing era during the reigns of Queen Melisende (1131-1161) and King Amaury (1163-1174) to the final achievements before 1187. Defining a distinctive and important chapter in the history of medieval art, this groundbreaking work contains 700 black and white illustrations and 40 color plates.