A fresco from the 13th century, recently uncovered in Ferrara, Italy, reveals intriguing evidence of medieval churches utilizing Islamic tents to cover their high altars. This fresco, which is around 700 years old, could be the only existing representation of its kind, providing valuable insights into a lesser-known Christian tradition.
A fresco from the 13th century, recently uncovered in Ferrara, Italy, reveals intriguing evidence of medieval churches utilizing Islamic tents to cover their high altars. This fresco, which is around 700 years old, could be the only existing representation of its kind, providing valuable insights into a lesser-known Christian tradition.
The fresco, which is only partially visible, was recognized by Dr. Federica Gigante, a historian from Cambridge University. It likely represents a real tent that the artist saw within the same church but is no longer available. The tent, which was vibrantly colored and adorned with jewels, might have been a diplomatic gift from a Muslim ruler or a war trophy.
Dr. Gigante’s research, which has just been published in The Burlington Magazine, also proposes that a significant figure, such as Pope Innocent IV—who donated luxurious textiles to the Benedictine convent church of S. Antonio in Polesine, Ferrara, where the fresco was created—could be the source of such a tent.
“Initially, the idea of this being an Islamic tent seemed unbelievable and overly thrilling,” Dr. Gigante explained. “I dismissed it at first, but later I returned to the concept with more experience and courage to explore. It’s unlikely we’ll ever find another image like this. I’ve continued searching, but I suspect it remains quite unique.”
The fresco serves as vital evidence of a medieval church employing Islamic tents in significant Christian rituals, including masses, as suggested by the analysis.
“Islamic textiles were linked to the Holy Land, brought back by pilgrims and crusaders, and they believed in an artistic continuity from the time of Christ, so using them in a Christian context seemed justified. Medieval European Christians admired Islamic art, often without fully understanding it,” Gigante noted.
While Islamic textiles were commonly found in late medieval European churches, remaining fragments typically ended up wrapped around relics or buried with important individuals. Some traces of Islamic textiles can still be seen on church walls in Italy and in late medieval Italian paintings. However, complete images of Islamic tents from the Western Islamic world, such as Spain, are extremely rare, making this fresco potentially the only detailed portrayal identified.
This fresco was created between the late 13th and early 14th centuries and shows a canopy over the high altar. The artist transformed the apse into a tent, featuring elaborate blue and golden draperies that enveloped three walls, crowned with a double-tiered, jewel-encrusted canopy commonly found throughout the Islamic region.
“The artist dedicated notable effort to render the textile realistically,” Gigante remarked.
The backdrop includes a blue sky sprinkled with stars and birds, crafting the illusion of a tent set up in the outdoors. In the early 15th century, other scenes depicting the lives of the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ were painted over part of the fresco. Sadly, art historians often overlooked the sections of the older fresco. Dr. Gigante recognized the representation of Islamic textiles during a church visit a decade ago, but extensive research was needed to confirm the fresco’s depiction of an Islamic tent.
Representation of an Actual Tent Used as Altar-Curtains
Dr. Gigante argues that the fresco represents a genuine Islamic tent that may have even been physically present in the convent church during the 13th century, serving as a reference point for the artist.
It is established that medieval churches employed valuable textile hangings to obscure the altar’s visibility, either permanently, during mass, or for specific liturgical occasions. While analyzing the fresco, Dr. Gigante discovered that it illustrated a veil’s corner, positioned as if it were drawn before the altar. Thus, she believes the actual tent may have been modified to function as a ‘tetravela,’ or altar-curtains.
“If the true tent was only set up in the church during certain events, the fresco might have acted as a visual reminder of its grandeur when it wasn’t in place,” Dr. Gigante explained. “The interaction between painted and real textiles was common throughout Europe and the Islamic world during the late medieval era.”
Her study points out that the apse walls are adorned with nails and brackets, suggesting they might have supported hanging textiles.
Dr. Gigante highlights the fresco’s ‘extraordinarily precise details’ as additional proof of its depiction of a legitimate tent. The cloth in the fresco shows blue eight-pointed star patterns encircled with roundels, originally highlighted in gold leaf, similar to luxurious fabrics used for Islamic tents. There’s also a band featuring pseudo-Arabic text along the borders. The textile boasts white outlines to emphasize contrasting colors, reflecting trends seen in 13th century Andalusian silk designs.
Furthermore, the structure, design, and color scheme of the tent bear a strong resemblance to the few existing depictions of Andalusian tents, including those found in the 13th century manuscript, the Cantigas de Santa Maria. There are also similarities with one of the few potential surviving fragments of an Andalusian tent, the ‘Fermo chasuble’, believed to have belonged to St. Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Dr. Gigante draws comparisons between the jewels depicted in the fresco and a rare surviving jeweled textile crafted by Arab artisans, the mantle of the Norman King Roger II of Sicily (1095-1154), which featured gold embroidery along with pearls, gemstones, and cloisonné enamel.
Warfare Spoils
In the 13th century, it was typical for banners and various spoils of war to adorn church altars across Europe.
“Tents, particularly Islamic royal tents, were among the most coveted gifts during diplomatic exchanges, serving as the most prominent royal identifiers within encampments and being highly sought after as battlefield spoils,” Dr. Gigante detailed.
“Tents made their way into Europe as war prizes. During anti-Muslim campaigns, textiles, including patches from tents, were frequently used as payments to mercenaries, with the tent being the ultimate reward. The fresco aligns with descriptions of royal Islamic tents captured during the Christian expansions into al-Andalus in the 13th century.”
A Possible Gift from the Pope?
Starting in the 9th century, Popes frequently donated Tetravela (altar-curtains) to churches, and papal archives show that by 1255, Pope Innocent IV had sent ‘draperies of the finest silk and gold fabrics’ to the convent of S. Antonio in Polesine.
“While we cannot confirm it, it seems likely that a prominent figure like Pope Innocent IV may have given the tent,” Dr. Gigante speculates.
An Andalusian tent, taken from the camp of the Almohad caliph Muhammad al-Nasir, was sent to Pope Innocent III after 1212, indicating that an Islamic tent was present in St. Peter’s Basilica at some juncture before the fresco’s painting.
Dr. Gigante proposes that the tent could also have formed part of a diplomatic gift for the influential Este family, known for forging alliances between the Guelfs and Ghibellins—factions aligned with the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor. This convent was established in 1249 by Beatrice II d’Este.
“Many don’t appreciate just how remarkably advanced and respected Islamic culture was during the medieval period,” Dr. Gigante stated.
Last year, Dr. Gigante uncovered the Verona Astrolabe, an 11th-century Islamic device featuring both Arabic and Hebrew inscriptions.
Federica Gigante is a Research Associate in the Faculty of History at the University of Cambridge and serves as the Hanna Kiel Fellow at I Tatti, Harvard University’s Center for Italian Renaissance Studies.
