elements, or to a melange of workers of diverse ethnic backgrounds. In these media,
Latin or Greek inscriptions offer clues to the circumstances of production.
In Jerusalem, the architecture of the Holy Sepulcher exemplifies the complex
interchanges between cultures. For the crusaders, the building came to symbolize
Jerusalem and the Latin Kingdom, as the number of holy sites grew and pilgrims
assigned new meanings to sites within and outside the Sepulcher. Since the construction
of the first building under the emperor Constantine, the Holy Sepulcher marked the site
of Christ’s burial, and subsequent destruction initiated the rebuilding financed by
Constantine IX Monomachus. The domed structure was characteristic of Byzantine
architecture, with a polygonal apse and three separate spaces for small chapels. Through
alteration, the crusaders attempted to transform the building into a Benedictine
pilgrimage church, changing the orientation of the altar from west to east and adding
radiating chapels. Such alterations conform to western requirements for churches, but the
building techniques come from a variety of sources. Rib vaulting is native to the crusader
kingdom, the horizontal masonry is French, the flat roofs of the transepts resemble
Palestinian buildings, and a tall Aquitinian dome surmounts the structure. The building
also gained an additional function, when it served as a place of coronation and
celebration of the anniversary of the taking of Jerusalem in 1099.
Another 12th-century monument that defies attribution to a single cultural group is the
Melisende Psalter (B.L., Egerton 1139; ca. 1131–43). Its elaborately carved ivory cover
studded with enamels, twenty-four full-page introductory miniatures, and eight
illuminated initials suggest that a number of artists contributed to the psalter, which
illustrates the high level of opulence in luxury goods desired by members of the
aristocracy associated with crusader society. Though the psalter was initially attributed to
the patronage of Queen Melisende (r. 1131–61), lack of evidence and the number of
cultural elements point toward the probability of another patron. Such features as the
Latin signature of the artist Basilius, the text of the calendar with English saints, the
Byzantine dress of the character in the roundels of the ivory cover, and western
iconographic elements may not easily offer a name or label for artists and patron, but they
do suggest that the agents of production were many and mixed.
Joint patronage produced works that reflect the fusion of cultures and also their
distinctiveness. In 1169, King Amalric I and the Byzantine emperor Manuel Comnenus
commissioned mosaics that featured a variety of subjects with Byzantine and western
elements in the church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. In the nave, the representation of the
seven ecumenical councils on the south wall and the six provincial councils on the north
wall are Greek in origin, relating to a profession of faith to bring out the condemnation of
heresies. Greek inscriptions name the figures representing each council. Beneath these
mosaics were the ancestors of Christ with Latin inscriptions that led to the west wall,
which held a Tree of Jesse, a typically western iconographic element.
Also at Bethlehem, arcade columns in the nave carry paintings by a number of artists.
A thickly painted holy figure graces each column. Saints from diverse geographic areas
include Macarius, Anthony Abbot and Euthymius (hermit saints), George (English),
Cosmas and Damian (Syrian), Canute and Olaf (Scandinavian), Fusca (Venetian), and St.
Margaret of Antioch. One column bears an entire group, identified with Greek
inscriptions: Mary the mother of James, Salome, Mary Magdalene, and the Virgin Mary.
Another column holds both St. Leo and St. Anne. Kneeling donors underline the function
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