Bringing the Holy Land Home: The Crusades, Chertsey Abbey, and the Reconstruction of a Medieval Masterpiece

Date: January 26, 2023 - April 6, 2023 at M - F 10 AM - 5 PM; SAT Noon - 5 PM

Presented By: Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Art Gallery, College of the Holy Cross

Bringing the Holy Land Home reveals the impact that art objects manufactured far away, particularly in the Byzantine and Islamic Mediterranean, had on the medieval visual culture of England and western Europe more broadly.  The exhibition takes as its starting point the iconic Chertsey tiles, on loan from the British Museum, including the Richard the Lionheart and Saladin combat tiles.

This exhibition draws from the collections of the British Museum, the Dumbarton Oaks Collection, Harvard University Art Museums, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the Morgan Library & Museum, and the Worcester Art Museum.  The exhibition has been awarded generous support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, the Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture, and the International Center of Medieval Art. 

Curated by Dr. Amanda Luyster, Assistant Professor
College of the Holy Cross

 

 

Image: Knight on horseback representing Richard I (Coeur de Lion) in combat, Chertsey tile series, British Museum, earthenware floor tiles, lead-glazed with inlaid slip decoration.