Historiography of christian paintings in Syria and Lebanon in the 11th-13th centuries

The article critically analyzes research sources of church paintings in Syria and Lebanon of the 11th-12th centuries, which were created mainly during the Crusades. In spite of being provincial in nature, Byzantine art of Syria and Lebanon is of artistic and historical value, however the paintings remain poorly studied, especially those of Syrian churches. Here all the monographs and the most important publications to date have been studied, e.g. those by Mat Immerzeel, Jaroslav Folda, Erica Kruikshank Dodd, Nada Hélou, Stephen Westphalen and others. By placing the medieval Christian art of Levant in a historical and geographical context, the researchers traced its relationship to Byzantium, as well as to the art of Latin masters who came to the Middle East with the crusaders. Also researched was Islamic art created in the same workshops and by the same craftsmen who worked for Christian churches. An important part of this article is referred to the study of early descriptions, researches and photographs of monuments that suffered a full or partial loss of their painting or changes of the original iconography and style. Identified are gaps in research of some monuments, as well as analytical inaccuracies.