of the columns as votive paintings. Named in Latin, Greek, or both, these figures most
immediately illustrate the significance and interdependence of religious and cultural roots
for natives as well as for many foreigners and at the same time attest to the communal
representation of these roots in crusader society.
During the first period of the Latin Kingdom, the Haram in Jerusalem had been
transformed into the Templar headquarters and the site of an Augustinian house. After the
fall of Jerusalem in 1187, many of the Christian buildings in the Haram were dismantled
and the fragments were reused in the Aqsa mosque, the Dome of the Rock, the entrance
to Bab as-Silsilah, and many other Islamic structures. The carving of these pieces are all
of high quality, ranging from twisted columns to “wet leaf” acanthus capitals with the
sinuous delicate leaf forms carved in relief. Due to the fragmentary nature of the material,
however, the composition of the “Temple” workshop remains a matter for speculation,
although scholars trace the subsequent migration of artists to southern Italy. In addition to
the Temple Workshop, the figural capitals intended for the church of the Annunciation at
Nazareth and two lintels over the main entrance to the Holy Sepulcher remain important
works in a corpus of crusader sculpture.
When the capital moved to Acre in 1191, artistic activity lapsed until ca. 1250. The
crusade of Louis IX and his presence at Acre (1252–54) brought greater support for the
Latin Kingdom and motivated patronage, which may account for the greater number of
surviving manuscripts and icons from this period. One of Louis IX’s commissions for an
Old French Bible, the Arsenal Bible (Paris, Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal 5211), shares
features with frescoes in Constantinople. Louis IX also initiated investment in increased
fortifications of such major sites as Caesarea, Jaffa, Sidon, and later in the century the
capital of Acre.
A number of 13th-century icons have been characterized as the product of western
artists because of certain unorthodox representations of Byzantine dress and the inclusion
of western emblems. Due in part to the scanty remains of comparative material, such as
monumental painting, and to the stylistic variety of local workshops, firm attributions of
groups of icons to one location are not always possible. Applications of simple “eastern”
or “western” labels do not take into consideration local commercial workshops that
produced marketable icons for one ethnic group or another.
The Latin Kingdom was not the monolithic culture that westerners have wished to
project. The diverse ethnic fabric demanded variety in patronage, eclectic artistic activity,
and a broad range of artistic products. Distinct differences between the crusader world in
the 12th and 13th centuries may hamper the search for continuity of workshops and
patrons but at the same time underline the necessity of acknowledging the complex
social, political, and economic circumstances surrounding the production of crusader art.
Stacy L.Boldrick
[See also: CRUSADES; ROMANESQUE ART]
Buchthal, Hugo. Miniature Painting in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. Oxford: Clarendon, 1957.
Buschhausen, Helmut. Die süditalienische Bauplastik im Königreich Jerusalem, von König
Wilhelm II. bis Kaiser Friedrich II. Vienna: Verlag der österreichischen Akademie der
Wissenschaften, 1978.
Folda, Jaroslav, ed. Crusader Art in the Twelfth Century. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports,
1982.
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