Abstract
Pseudo-Arabic is a form of ornament, derived from Arabic script, which appears in both Islamic and Christian contexts from the 10th century onwards. The city of Bari in south-east Italy, and its hinterland, boasts a number of examples of this motif. This article explores how pseudo-Arabic was employed in Bari and how the circulation of luxury objects in the medieval Mediterranean contributed to the dissemination of the motif. Bari’s most prominent church, the Basilica of San Nicola, contains a particularly inventive example of pseudo-Arabic in its apse mosaic, which can be dated to the decades following the First Crusade. This article explores the idea that booty from the crusade may have provided the inspiration for the pseudo-Arabic pavement.
Highlights
In the central Middle Ages, Bari was the most important mercantile port on the southern Adriatic coast
In Bari itself, we find no Greek epigraphy until the beginning of Byzantine rule in the 10th century
A number of pieces of sculpture from the court have survived, were reused in the basilica and are either in situ in the church, or housed in the adjacent museum. They include some of the capitals in the crypt, which were carved in the Eastern Mediterranean, possibly Constantinople, in the 6th century and brought to Bari for the construction of the Court of the Catapan (Bertelli, 1991)
Summary
In the central Middle Ages, Bari was the most important mercantile port on the southern Adriatic coast. Despite some very visible and prominent monumental examples, pseudo-Arabic in medieval Puglia is often absent from existing scholarly discourse, and when it is acknowledged, it is often marginalised to footnotes and short descriptions This may be partly attributed to local historians’ reticence to acknowledge such bold Islamic influence on Christian space, but it is due to the challenges that come from engaging with such an enigmatic motif. The first part focuses on the examples of pseudo-Arabic in and around Bari, which date from the Byzantine era (from the 10th century until the Normans took the city in 1070), in order to ensure that the San Nicola mosaic is situated within its local context. This article contributes to the picture historians are building up of how motifs circulated in the medieval Mediterranean, and how Islamic objects and designs were received by Christian audiences
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