ABSTRACT

The early modern Mediterranean was an area where many different rich cultural traditions came in contact with each other, and were often forced to co-exist, frequently learning to reap the benefits of co-operation. Orthodox, Roman Catholics, Muslims, Jews, and their interactions all contributed significantly to the cultural development of modern Europe. The aim of this volume is to address, explore, re-examine and re-interpret one specific aspect of this cross-cultural interaction in the Mediterranean – that between the Byzantine East and the (mainly Italian) West. The investigation of this interaction has become increasingly popular in the past few decades, not least due to the relevance it has for cultural exchanges in our present-day society.

The starting point is provided by the fall of Constantinople to the troops of the Fourth Crusade in 1204. In the aftermath of the fall, a number of Byzantine territories came under prolonged Latin occupation, an occupation that forced Greeks and Latins to adapt their life socially and religiously to the new status quo. Venetian Crete developed one of the most fertile ‘bi-cultural’ societies, which evolved over 458 years. Its fall to the Ottoman Turks in 1669 marked the end of an era and was hence chosen as the end point for the conference. By sampling case studies from the most representative areas where this interaction took place, the volume highlights the process as well as the significance of its cultural development.

chapter 1|18 pages

Introduction

part 1|86 pages

Byzantium and the West

chapter 2|9 pages

Cultural Interaction in Candia

Case studies in a developing early modern multi-ethnic community

chapter 3|29 pages

Aspects of Artistic Exchange on Crete

Questions concerning the presence of Venetian painters on the island in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries

chapter 4|15 pages

The Fogg Triptych

Testimony of a case study to the society and artistic production of Venetian Crete

part 2|66 pages

Byzantium and the West

chapter 6|24 pages

The Byzantine Tradition in Late Medieval Cyprus

Selective continuity and creative diversification 1

chapter 7|20 pages

Giotto’s Quadrilobes

Transmigrations of Italianate ornaments in the eastern Mediterranean

chapter 8|20 pages

East is East and West is West?

Artistic interchange across frontiers in the eastern Mediterranean

part 3|44 pages

Byzantium and the West

chapter 9|28 pages

Between East and West

Locating monumental painting from the Peloponnese

chapter 10|14 pages

The Elephant on the Page

Ciriaco d’Ancona in Mystras

part 4|125 pages

Byzantium and the West

chapter 11|17 pages

Space, Place and Culture

Processions across the Mediterranean 1

chapter 12|22 pages

Sister, Widow, Consort, Bride

Four Latin ladies in Greece (1330–1430)

chapter 13|14 pages

Made in Byzantium?

Mosaics After 1204

chapter 16|15 pages

The Fate of Bells Under Ottoman Rule

Between destruction and negotiation 1