Curatorial Vision

The prevalence of censers devoted to the life of Christ demonstrates the continued influence of Christianity throughout the Middle Ages, despite Arab conquests. Their consistent yet diversified style emphasizes the fact that the underlying design of censers did not change significantly between the 7^th and 13^th century. Only slight stylistic differences, mainly the specific scenes on individual censers, arose across this period. With the onset of Arab rule, although Christianity was far more restricted around the Holy Land, its influence remained by way of iconography and religious objects, such as censers.

            This exhibit will explore two major aspects of the idea presented above: the constancy of censer style over time and the abundance of similar censers. The continuity of censer style metaphorically speaks to the persistence of Christianity, as censers from the 7^th and 13^th centuries resemble one another in both structure and iconography, demonstrating consistent Christian influence throughout the years. Additionally, the myriad of similar censers shows that casts continued to be made and that Christian influence continued to be spread, as various censers can be traced to Egypt, Syria, Anatolia, and other areas surrounding the Holy Land. Despite the Arab conquest of Jerusalem rather early on, Christianity survived the Middle Ages by way of iconographic objects of worship.

            These censers, presumably, were all made via the lost-wax process, a common method of casting during the Middle Ages. It is posited that originals copies made in the Holy Land were reproduced and given to pilgrims, who brought them home for veneration and worship. It is plausible that these casts were recast and further spread across the Byzantine and Arab Empires (though it would have been far more difficult to spread Christian iconography in Muslim lands).

            The sort of casting previously described brought me to my “Big Idea” (explained above). Knowing that censers were probably spread and exchanged far beyond the Holy Land, I wanted to determine if their structure/style was altered in any way, assuming that not only casts were made, but also new censers modeled after those which came out of the Holy Land. Going along with this idea, I attempted to find censers from other periods of the Middle Ages—beyond the 7^th century to be specific. I came across a variety of censers, some of similar style and some of much different style. This gave me hope that my argument would at least be feasible.

            Using groups of objects from different periods of the Middle Ages, I hope to show that despite various cultural influences and shifts of power, Christianity maintained some sort of influence. To accomplish this, I have chosen two objects from the 5^th-7^th century, five objects from the 7^th-10^th century, and three objects from the 13^th century. I wish to examine the style and structure of these, as to find evidence to support my Big Idea. Support for my claim will show that Christianity persisted in Arab lands, whether through underground meetings or approved but restricted religious gatherings. It might also demonstrate a precedent for tolerance, seeing as though six centuries is quite a long time to meet in secret. Overall, any information regarding the continuity of Christianity in majority Muslim lands will shed light on the perceived power of faith and iconography, as the censers described above must have held some continued importance throughout the Middle Ages since they did recur in various forms.