In the Shadow of the Church

Reviews / Votes

Winner of the Syrian Studies Association (SSA) Prize for 2017:

"Mattia Guidetti's In the Shadow of the Church: the Building of Mosques in Early Medieval Syria is an extremely important contribution to the history of medieval Syria and addresses a key, long-recognized lacuna in Islamic art history: the integration of the narrative of Islamic art with that of the art of Late Antiquity. It argues against a paradigm of "rupture" with the coming of Islam by successfully demonstrating that Early Syrian mosques were deeply influenced by Late Antique Church forms, and that the development of the mosque should thus be viewed as arising out of Church development in the period immediately prior to the rise of Islam. While a handful of historians have successfully integrated the history of early Islam into the world of Late Antiquity of which it was clearly a part, this is one of the first, and to date the most sustained, attempts to do so within the field of Art History. The committee was particularly impressed by Guidetti's exploration of the premodern mechanisms of coexistence among religious communities in medieval Syria. Likewise, Guidetti's contribution to the study of cultural transference of ideas and objects via his examination of spolia-architectural elements reused from earlier Roman and Christian-era monuments-was outstanding. Guidetti's rich and deeply researched book opens a new chapter in the field of the Art History of Syria and promises to remain influential for years."



"This book is a remarkable scientific work and documentation of the coexistence, cohabitation and interaction of two civilizations, Christian and Muslim, mainly through their material creations, especially shrines. [...] A very interesting and useful academic work that examines in depth a subject of great scientific importance." - Angeliki Georgiou Kompocholi, in: Journal of Oriental and African Studies 27 (2018)