Re-Assessing the Global turn in Medieval Art History

Study of the migration of motifs, materials, personnel, and finished objects in Eurasia has a long pedigree in medieval art history, and the broadening attention to material culture as an alternative to purely textually based historical accounts has been integral to reshaping the conception of an interconnected medieval world. The growth in debates concerning the concept of “the global” throughout art history, and the more complex picture of Eurasian and African societies and material culture that has emerged in the past two decades has highlighted challenges to traditional art historical narratives, specializations, and scholarly training. And while these problems affect Byzantine, Islamic, Western medieval, and East Asian art history, there has been little conversation among scholars in these fields. A cutting-edge work on global medieval art, this volume offers a starting point for conversations among scholars working on multiple cultural regions.