Visual Culture in Medieval Syriac Traditions

Although spread across the globe from North Africa to China, the visual culture of Syriac Christian communities remains to be fully integrated into art historical studies. Showcasing the breadth of their arts and material culture, Visual Culture in Medieval Syriac Traditions both situates the field of Syriac art and explores the artistic networks and influences of Syriac churches across the Middle East and Asia, ca. 5th–13th centuries.
Church wall paintings, monumental architecture, burial sites, illuminated manuscripts, liturgical silver, and more provide windows into medieval Syriac communities. This volume analyzes how their visual trends spread and how those arts were shaped by the religious, political, and cultural contexts into which they arrived. It considers how artisans engaged with local traditions, where theological identity was or was not explored in material production, and when multi-church cooperation superseded doctrinal differences. By studying the networks of art and artisans in an increasingly interconnected medieval world, this publication also highlights an understudied field of visual culture and introduces new sources to medieval art history.