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    Pseudo-Arabic and the material culture of the First Crusade in Norman Italy: the sanctuary mosaic at San Nicola in Bari

    Vernon, Clare (2018) Pseudo-Arabic and the material culture of the First Crusade in Norman Italy: the sanctuary mosaic at San Nicola in Bari. Open Library of Humanities 4 (1), p. 36. ISSN 2056-6700.

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    Abstract

    Pseudo-Arabic is a form of ornament, derived from Arabic script, which appears in both Islamic and Christian contexts from the 10th century onwards. The city of Bari in south-east Italy, and its hinterland, boasts a number of examples of this motif. This article explores how pseudo-Arabic was employed in Bari and how the circulation of luxury objects in the medieval Mediterranean contributed to the dissemination of the motif. Bari’s most prominent church, the Basilica of San Nicola, contains a particularly inventive example of pseudo-Arabic in its apse mosaic, which can be dated to the decades following the First Crusade. This article explores the idea that booty from the crusade may have provided the inspiration for the pseudo-Arabic pavement.

    Metadata

    Item Type: Article
    School: Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Historical Studies
    Depositing User: Administrator
    Date Deposited: 11 Nov 2020 08:26
    Last Modified: 02 Aug 2023 18:05
    URI: https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/41429

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