Images in the Borderlands : The Mediterranean between Christian and Muslim Worlds in the Early Modern Period

Abstract

This volume offers a unique exploration into the cultural history of the Mediterranean in the Early Modern Period by examining the region through the prism of Christian-Muslim encounters and conflicts and the way in which such relationships were represented in art works from the time. Taking images from the period as its starting point, this interdisciplinary work draws together contributors from fields as varied as cultural history, art history, archaeology, and the political sciences in order to reconstruct the history of a region that was often construed in the Early Modern period as a ‘borderland’ between religions. From discussions of borders as both physical construction and mental construct in the Mediterranean to case studies exploring the Battle of Lepanto, and from analyses of art work produced from the fifteenth to eighteenth centuries to a consideration of the influence of the Ottoman Empire in the Mediterranean Basin, the chapters gathered together in this insightful volume provide a new approach to our understanding of Early Modern Mediterranean history.