Book contents
- Courtly Mediators
- Courtly Mediators
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Plates
- Illustrations
- Preface and Acknowledgements
- Primary Sources and Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Chapter One Diplomatic Entanglements
- Chapter Two Mobile Things/Mobile Motifs
- Chapter Three The Peregrinations of Porcelain
- Chapter Four Fit for the Gods
- Chapter Five From the Silk Roads to the Court Apothecary
- Conclusion
- Appendices
- Bibliography
- Index
Conclusion
Arresting Mobility
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 July 2023
- Courtly Mediators
- Courtly Mediators
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Plates
- Illustrations
- Preface and Acknowledgements
- Primary Sources and Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Chapter One Diplomatic Entanglements
- Chapter Two Mobile Things/Mobile Motifs
- Chapter Three The Peregrinations of Porcelain
- Chapter Four Fit for the Gods
- Chapter Five From the Silk Roads to the Court Apothecary
- Conclusion
- Appendices
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
A prayer book belonging to King Alfonso I d’Aragona of Naples completed in the early 1440s contains numerous miniatures of interior spaces showcasing blue and white tiles bearing Aragonese arms and devices (Plates VII, Chapter 5 and XI).1 The manuscript illumination was begun by Domingo Crespí in Valencia and completed by his son, Leonardo.2 Throughout the illuminations we find careful attention to the rendering of the luxurious materials on walls, altars, bodies and floors. Of special interest for this concluding chapter is the consideration paid to the tiles underfoot: the motifs of blue and white bars which form the Aragonese arms, sometimes accompanied by quick paint strokes to indicate the eagle emblem, interspersed between plain tiles. In some cases, less decorated tiles resemble terracotta (Plate XI), while others are splattered with greens and reds mimicking marble (Plate VII, Chapter 5). In one of the depictions of King Alfonso at prayer (Plate VII), the smaller terracotta tiles are divided with long bands of blue and white with a decorative S motif, with larger tiles bearing Aragonese arms punctuating the floor. Similar tiles can be found in other paintings of the time (Plate I, Introduction) and are linked to extant tiles once on the floors of the Aragonese palaces in Catalonia as well as across the kingdom of Naples (Plate XII).3
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- Courtly MediatorsTranscultural Objects between Renaissance Italy and the Islamic World, pp. 263 - 288Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023