page_title: Mongol elements in Western medieval art
section_title: Mongol script in medieval art
hierarchical_section_title: Mongol elements in Western medieval art / Mongol script in medieval art
context_page_description: Mongol elements in Western medieval art can be seen in European works of art ranging from the 13th to the 15th century. They encompass artistic areas such as painting and textile manufacture, and mainly consist in the European use of Mongol 'Phags-pa script in Medieval European art, as well as the representation of "Tartar" cloth and Mongol soldiers in a number of contemporary European paintings.
context_section_description: During the period of interaction between the Mongols and the West, from the late 13th century to early 14th century, some Italian painters incorporated Mongol script (particularly the 'Phags-pa script) into their religious painting. Examples can be seen especially in the frescos of the Upper Church of San Francesco at Assisi, or in the paintings of Giotto and related painters.
   
  These inscriptions often imitated the Mongol 'Phags-pa, probably discovered by the artists through Mongol paper money or paiza (travel passes) such as those Marco Polo was issued with during his travels. Frescos of Saint Jerome, Augustine and Pope Gregory I in the Church of San Francesco in Assisi (1296–1300) are known where they study books written in pseudo-Mongol. The famous Renaissance painter Giotto and his pupils often combined Arabic and 'Phags-pa script in their paintings. In Giotto's The Crucifixion (1304-1312/1313), soldiers wear tunics inscribed with pseudo-Mongol bands. In Giotto's Madonna and Child (1320–1330), the Virgin Mary's robe is decorated with a hem in a mix of Arabic and Mongol script. Giotto again used the Mongolian script in the Scrovegni Chapel.
  Besides the influence of exchanges between the Western and Mongol realms during the period, the exact reason for the incorporation of Mongol script in early Renaissance painting is unclear. It seems that Westerners believed 13–14th century Middle-Eastern scripts (such as Mongol and Arabic) to be the same as the scripts current during Jesus's time, and thus found it natural to represent early Christians in association with them.  This may have been partly because some objects from the Islamic era with inscriptions were treated as relics. Another reason might be that artist wished to express a cultural universality for the Christian faith, by blending together various written languages, at a time when the church had strong international ambitions. Possibly, the usage of Mongol cultural markers was also a way to express the eastern links of European religious orders such as the Franciscans.
  In the East, a certain degree of cultural and artistic interaction is known due to the development of Christianity among the Mongols. The use of the Mongol script in association with representations of Christianity can be seen for example in Nestorian Christian steles, such as those found in Quanzhou which are dated to the 14th century.
  The use of Phags-pa Mongol script in Medieval European painting had remained unnoticed however, until it was first identified in the 1980s by the Japanese scholar Hidemichi Tanaka. His findings were published in his 1983 paper The Mongolian Script in Giotto Paintings at the Scrovegni Chapel at Padova. Kufic Arabic script is even more often used in a similar way, known as Pseudo-Kufic.
caption: Saint Jerome reading a pseudo-Mongol script, consisting of an imitation of blocks of 'Phags-pa letters, written horizontally rather than vertically. 1296–1300, Church of San Francesco Assisi.[3]
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