The 700-year-old Italian fresco reveals the use by the medieval Islamic Church

The 700-year-old fresco discovered in the monastery church of S. Antonio in Polesine in Ferrara, Italy reveals that luxury Islamic tents were used to hide altars in medieval European churches, revealing a previously unknown chapter in the history of relations between Islam and Christianity.

Fresco, dated to the end of the 13th or early fourteenth century, was identified by Dr. Federica Gigante, a historian from the University of Cambridge and Fellow Hanna Kiel at and Tatti. Her researchRecently published in The Burlington Magazine, presents key evidence for a medieval church using Islamic tents in key Christian practices.

Dr. Gigante came across a fresco in the monastery church ten years ago, but only recently confirmed its significance after extensive research. “At first it seemed unbelievable and too exciting that it could be an Islamic tent” she said. “I quickly rejected this idea and returned to it only many years later with more experience and a bolder approach to research.”

Fresko presents apsy transformed into an interior of a luxury tent. Drapers include three walls, decorated with blue eight -core star motifs written in Roundlels, originally distinguished in a golden leaf. The stage is topped with a double -cone canopy with a beige cash register, embedded against the starry sky with birds, increasing the illusion of a tent erected outside.

Dr. Gigante suggests that the fresco was modeled on a real tent of Islamic origin, which could be physically present in the church in the 13th century. “The artist put a lot of effort to make textiles look like life-like life,” she said. “We can’t be sure, but it is possible that a loud person, such as Pope Innocent, gave a tent.”

Historical records confirm this possibility. In 1255, the innocent Pope IV sent “Draperies of the best silk and gold fabric” to the monastery of S. Antonio in Polesine.

“Tents, especially Islamic royal tents, were one of the most valued gifts in diplomatic exchanges, the most outstanding royal insignia at campsites and the most sought after loot in the battlefields,” Gigante explained. “Fresko suits the descriptions of the royal Islamic tents that were taken over during the wars of Christian expansion in Al-Wandalus in the 13th century.”

The walls of the apse in the monastery church are blown up with nails and brackets that could serve as structural brackets suspended fabrics. Gigante believes that a real tent could be adapted to serve as a “tetravel”, swelling of the altars used to hide the altar from the mass or specific liturgical periods. “It is already known that medieval churches used valuable textile hangers to hide the altar,” she said.

The structure, design and color of the tent are very similar to several survivors of Andalusia tents, including in the 13th-century manuscript, Cantigas de Santa Maria. Textile also contains white contours to emphasize contrasting colors, reflecting the trend in the 13th-century Andalusia silk.

Gigante compares the jewels depicted on a fresco with a rare survivor of jewels made by Arab craftsmen – the coat of King Norman Roger II from Sicily, which was embroidered with gold and decorated with pearls, precious stones and Cloisonné. “Islamic textiles were associated with the Holy Land, of which pilgrims and crusaders restored the most valuable Islamic textiles,” Gigante explained. “Christians in medieval Europe admired Islamic art, not fully aware of it.”

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It is the fresco that is a key evidence of the influence of Islamic art on medieval European Christianity and indicates the deep recognition that Christians had Islamic art, even if it is indirect. Gigante notes that such performances are extremely rare and that this may be the only detailed, full -size presentation of the Islamic tent to be identified. “We probably won’t find another such surviving picture. I didn’t stop looking, but I guess it is quite unique, “she said.

Fresco was partly painted at the beginning of the 15th century with scenes from the life of Mary and Jesus Christ, but part of the original fresco remained visible. The discovery of Gigante sheds new light on the exchange of culture between the Islamic world and medieval Europe.

“Many people are unaware of how extremely advanced and admired Islamic culture was in the medieval period,” Gigante noted. Her research emphasizes the importance of intercultural interactions in shaping medieval art and architecture. “Supported between painted and real fabrics can be found throughout Europe and the Islamic world in the late medieval period,” she said.

Gigante has the history of discovering artifacts. Last year, she identified Astrolabe in Verona, Islamic Astrolabe from the 16th century with both Arab and Hebrew inscriptions. The S. Antonio monastery in Polacyna was founded in 1249 by Beatrice II d’este. The tent presented in Fresku could enter the church through war or as part of the diplomatic gift for the powerful Este family, which supported the alliances between the factions supporting the Pope and Saint Roman Emperor.

The article was written with the help of a message analysis system.

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