This illuminating and richly illustrated volume celebrates the Custodia di Terra Sancta (Custody of the Holy Land), its history, its legacy,and its precious treasures. The Custodia di Terra Sancta is a branch of the Franciscan order, established by the pope in 1342 to safeguard the church of the Holy Sepulcher and other holy sites in the Middle East. Today, the Custodia oversees eighty-two such religious sites and, in order to house its remarkable collection, is building the Terra Sancta Museum which is scheduled to open in Jerusalem in 2026. Over the course of centuries Christian heads of state from across the Western world sent symbolic gifts to the Holy Sepulcher and other holy sites via the Franciscans of the Custodia. The objects, which range in date from the late Middle Ages through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, represent an extraordinary survival of the kinds of precious and valuable objects that were typically destroyed and melted down. Highlights include more than 60 pieces of gold- and silversmith work and textiles that date from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries. Among these are chalices and candlesticks in gold and silver and opulent liturgical vestments that were gifts from the Catholic kings of Europe. This book accompanies an exhibition that will be on view at The Frick Collection in New York and the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas. AUTHORS: Xavier F. Salomon is deputy director and Peter Jay Sharp curator, The Frick Collection, New York. Benoit Constensoux is an art historian of Galerie Kugel in Paris and a member of the Scientific Committee of the Terra Sancta Museum. Jacques Charles-Gaffiot is an art historian and iconography expert. Marie-Armelle Beaulieu is the editor-in-chief of Terre Sainte Magazine. Alvar Gonzalez-Palacios is an art historian who has written numerous books on Italian and French decorative arts. Maria Pia Pettinau Vescina is an art historian and ancient textiles expert, as well as a member of the Scientific Committee of the Terra Sancta Museum. Daniele Veron-Denise is a specialist on liturgical and secular embroidery and former curator at the Chateau de Fontainebleau Museum, as well as a member of the Scientific Committee of the Terra Sancta Museum. SELLING POINTS: . Ground-breaking book accompanies the first time these treasures from the iconic Terra Sancta Museum's collection have been shown in the United States of America. . Substantial and important volume features contributions by international experts in their field. . Significant grouping of treasures represent an extraordinary survival of the kinds of objects in precious materials that were typically destroyed and melted down. 285 colour illustrations
