Overview

An unprecedented history of Christian art-spanning two millennia-in the lands where the religion originally took root and spread. This splendidly illustrated volume is the first to survey the artistic achievement of the Christian communities of the Near East, living in present-day Iraq, southern Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, and Egypt. Although these communities belong to diverse churches, they share elements of a common history: they date back to the earliest days of Christianity, they adopted the Arabic language in the ninth and tenth centuries while preserving their original language (Syrian, Greek, Coptic) in their liturgy, they had the status of dhimmis under the Arabs and the Ottomans, they have often served as intermediaries between East and West, and in recent years they have often faced destruction or exile. Raphaëlle Ziadé, a noted authority in the field, brings together the holding of churches, monasteries, museums, and private collections, as well as the findings of archaeology, to present an artistic panorama stretching from the birth of Christianity to the end of the Ottoman empire. Her rigorously researched account-encompassing architecture, frescoes, mosaics, wood and ivory carvings, metalwork, illuminated manuscripts, icons, and textiles-breaks down denominational, political, and geographic barriers to reveal the civilizational dimension of Christian art in the Near East. AUTHOR: Raphaëlle Ziadé is curator of Byzantine collections at the Petit Palais in Paris and a specialist in Eastern Christianity. She curated the major exhibition Chrétiens d'Orient, 2,000 Ans d'Histoire at the Institut du Monde Arabe (2017–18). Ziadé holds a doctorate in the history of religion and teaches at the École du Louvre and the Institut Catholique de Paris. SELLING POINTS: . A monumental and unprecedented survey of Christian art in the original homeland of the faith, from the dawn of the church to the fall of the Ottoman empire . Brings together the artistic accomplishments of the diverse churches of present-day Iraq, southern Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, and Egypt . Hundreds of spectacular illustrations: architecture, frescoes, mosaics, wood and ivory carvings, metalwork, illuminated manuscripts, icons, and textiles . Author Raphaëlle Ziadé is a leading authority on the subject. . A timely volume, as certain Christian communities of the Near East have recently faced destruction or exile

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Raphaëlle Ziadé is curator of Byzantine collections at the Petit Palais in Paris and a specialist in Eastern Christianity. She curated the major exhibition Chrétiens d’Orient, 2,000 Ans d’Histoire at the Institut du Monde Arabe (2017–18). Ziadé holds a doctorate in the history of religion and teaches at the École du Louvre and the Institut Catholique de Paris.

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