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• 1 2021-11-03T13:51:47-07:00 What does this tell us about the Crusades? 6 plain 2022-06-13T10:32:04-07:00 By Reuben Reyes '23
  

  Much can be learned about the context of the Crusades from learning about the centerpiece of the fragment, the griffin. The griffin is a mythical creature that is the composite of a lion and an eagle: it has the body, legs, and tail of a lion while also having the wings and head of an eagle. This mythical hybrid was believed to carry away grown men to feed its young, a myth found in both ancient texts and medieval bestiaries. In ancient Byzantine art, griffins often emblazoned elaborately patterned silks, textiles, and other luxury goods. These griffins were also typically encircled by roundels (as seen in our object), which added to the visual luster of the creature. They sometimes had connotations with protecting the dead, since they were found depicted on church treasuries that held holy relics and the bones of saints. According to art historians, the griffin was an integral part of visual language communicating high status to its medieval audience. 

  The griffin became a popular symbol across Mediterranean cultures due to its overarching representation of nobility and power. However, the griffin’s meaning often changed to reflect the culture that it was being used in. For example, during the Middle Ages, Christian countries such as Italy and France used the griffin as a symbol of Christ: the lion represented Christ’s nobility while the eagle represented Christ’s divinity and ascension into heaven. The duality between the two animals could also serve as a representation of Christ's duality of human and divine. Within this cultural context, the griffin may have been seen alongside different Christian monuments to instill a high level of religious fervor amongst individuals who visited the cathedrals to practice Catholicism.
  
  More definitively, the object was created during the Romanesque art period in which there was a heavy emphasis on creating sculptures and artistic expressions that were a resemblance to ancient Byzantine silks and textiles. Within this context, the spandrel with a griffin encircled in a roundel resembled those Byzantine silks and textiles, which would have been brought back from the eastern Mediterranean by Crusaders. While these Byzantine textiles would have come to Western Europe by other means as well, the Crusades played a significant role in these textiles' travel. Once these textiles arrived, many churches hung them from the walls as decoration. The Spandrel with a Griffin in a Roundel paid direct homage to those textiles, reminding people of how they were used to seeing textiles in similar patterns on church walls.