Imagining the Self, Constructing the Past celebrates the various ways in which the Middle Ages and the Renaissance are adapted, recollected, and represented in our own day and age. Most of the chapters fit broadly into one of three categories: namely, the representation of the self in medieval and early modern history and literature; the recollection and utilization of the past in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance; and the role of the medieval and the early modern in our own society. Overall, the contributions to this volume bear witness to the importance of representation to our understanding of ourselves, each other, and our shared past.

The Harbour of All This Sea and Realm offers an overview of the Lusignan, Genoese and Venetian history of the main port city of Cyprus, a Mediterranean crossroads. The essays contribute to the understanding of Famagusta's social and administrative structure, as well as the influences on its architectural, artisan, and art historical heritage from the thirteenth to sixteenth centuries. We read of crusader bishops from central France, metalworkers from Asia Minor, mercenaries from Genoa, refugees from Acre, and traders from Venice. The themes of the city's diasporas and cultural hybridity permeate and unify the essays in this collaborative effort. Some of the studies use archival sources to reconstruct the early stages of appearances of various buildings. Such research is of vital importance, given the threat to Famagusta's medieval and early modern heritage by its use as a military base since 1974.

This volume is the only scholarly work in English examining the multicultural society of the Lusignan Kingdom of Cyprus during the first two centuries of Frankish rule following the conquest of the Byzantine island during the Third Crusade. In this global synthesis based on original research, often in manuscripts, six chapters by acknowledged experts treat the main ethnic groups – Greeks and Franks – and the economy, religion, literature, and art of a frontier society between Byzantium, the papacy, the Crusader States, and the Islamic world. Cyprus, also home to Armenians, Syrians (Maronites, Melkites, Jacobites, Nestorians), Jews, Muslims, and others, offers an excellent opportunity to study the fascinating issues of identity construction, acculturation, and assimilation in a ethnically and religiously diverse society.

The fresco decoration of the Royal Chapel in Pyrga on Cyprus is usually dated 1421. The coat of arms featuring the Cross of Jerusalem and the lion rampant points to royal French commissioners, namely members of the Lusignan dynasty. Western, French patronage left its imprint on this chapel in terms of architecture and pictorial decoration - although within a complex Cypriot frame. The study presents iconographical and stylistic evidence supporting a much earlier dating into the first half or the middle of the fourteenth century. The choice of scenes (with French tituli) has no comprehensive model on Cyprus. Significant western additions and variations distinguish this Lusignan program from other indigenous Cypriot predecessors and contemporaries. The iconographical analysis shows that the workshop made use of earlier Palaiologan Constantinopolitan models, such as the Kariye Camii mosaics. The iconography and the emotional pathos of some scenes suggest an awareness of western, French source material, and in particular of Franciscan book illuminations, Psalters, Missals, and Books of Hours. If this revised dating is correct, the program of decoration is an outstanding testament to royal, specifically Lusignan, commission and represents the first and most faithful adoption and adaptation of Palaiologan models in Cyprus.

Mater Misericordiae?Mother of Mercy?emerged as one of the most prolific subjects in central Italian art from the late thirteenth through the sixteenth centuries. With iconographic origins in Marian cult relics brought from Palestine to Constantinople in the fifth century, the amalgam of attributes coalesced in Armenian Cilicia then morphed as it spread to Cyprus. An early concept of Mary of Mercy?the Virgin standing with outstretched arms and a wide mantle under which kneel or stand devotees?entered the Italian peninsula at the ports of Bari and Venice during the Crusades, eventually converging in central Italy. The mendicant orders adopted the image as an easily recognizable symbol for mercy and aided in its diffusion. In this study, the author?s primary goals are to explore the iconographic origins of the Madonna della Misericordia as a devotional image by identifying and analyzing key attributes; to consider circumstances for its eventual overlapping function as a secular symbol used by lay confraternities; and to discuss its diaspora throughout the Italian peninsula, Western Europe, and eastward into Russia and Ukraine. With over 100 illustrations, the book presents an array of works of art as examples, including altarpieces, frescoes, oil paintings, manuscript illuminations, metallurgy, glazed terracotta, stained glass, architectural relief sculpture, and processional banners.

Featuring eight innovative studies by prominent scholars of medieval art and architecture, this special issue of Medieval Encounters examines the specific means by which art and architectural forms, techniques, and ideas were transmitted throughout the medieval world (ca. 1000-1500). While focusing on the Mediterranean region, the collection also includes essays that expand this geographic zone into a cultural and artistic one by demonstrating contact with near and distant neighbors, thereby allowing an expanded understanding of the interconnectedness of the medieval world. The studies are united by a focus on the specific mechanisms that enabled artistic and architectural interaction, as well as the individuals who facilitated these transmissions. Authors also consider the effects and collaboration of portable and monumental arts in the creation of intercultural artistic traditions. Contributors are: Justine Andrews, Maria Georgopoulou, Ludovico Geymonat, Heather E. Grossman, Eva Hoffman, Melanie Michailidis, Renata Holod, Scott Redford and Alicia Walker.

Sirarpie Der Nersessian's scholarship has influenced the understanding of Armenian art and its Byzantine context. These two volumes are the culmination of six decades devoted to the exploration of Armenian art, and reflect a deep knowledge of the manuscripts and their creators.