Arab Christian refugees in Lusignan Cyprus during the thirteenth century : pictorial impact and evidence

Résumé En

When Guy de Lusignan became Lord of Cyprus in May 1192, Byzantine painting was flourishing on the island. The masterpieces produced before and at the moment of the Latin establishment were used as models for local painters who worked during the thirteenth century. Only a few noteworthy changes occurred in the insular pictorial production during the first three quarters of that century. Patrons continued to commission wall paintings in the Comnenian style and iconography. However, during the second half of the thirteenth century, the establishment of refugees from the Holy Land played a key role in developing the eastern flavour of the Cypriot pictorial production. A change can be seen in the preserved mural paintings and icons not only from urban centres and their suburbs but also from isolated mountainous regions of the Lusignan Kingdom. This paper attends to explain this radical change.