The Arts of Intimacy

"The compelling story of the complex entangling of Christian, Muslim, and Jewish history, culture, literature and art in medieval Iberia has been told many times before…But it has never been told like this . . . A rich tapestry of a book that brings to vivid life the dialectic of acculturation and assimilation in which medieval Spain’s three religious groups were enmeshed."—Jill Ross, Times Higher Education (UK)

"This handsomely produced and generously illustrated book explores the praxis of medieval Castilian culture inherited by Catholic kings. . . . [An] impressive work of scholarship. . . . An important addition to the scholarship of medieval Iberia."—Library Journal

"[An] ambitious study . . . [with] stunning presentation."—Michael Kerrigan, The Scotsman ‘The Critique’

"Fascinating . . . by no means a dry scholarly text and there are some extremely funny passages which enrich the book . . . To find that historic link between English Renaissance and 12th century Spain with its Moorish culture . . . is, quite frankly, breathtaking. . . . Certainly, The Arts of Intimacy is, to my mind, a worthy addition to any serious bookshelf."—Richard Edmonds, Birmingham Post

". . . beautiful and gorgeously illustrated. . . . this is a fascinating trawl through a forgotten time."—Catholic Herald

"The approach taken by the group of American authors is fresh. . . . The book is beautifully, almost extravagantly, illustrated . . . The Arts of Intimacy and its authors are nonetheless to be applauded for taking up the challenge with brio and the publishers for producing a beautiful book."—Allan Doig, Art and Christianity, February 2010

"Richly illustrated. . . . Deliberately accessible. . . . Through its clear narrative and its elegant style , and thanks to its affordable price, Arts of Intimacy works to render a fascinating and complex topic more widely accessible to a general readership."—Andrea Weisl-Shaw, Medium Aevum

Named a Book of the Year by the Times Literary Supplement

Short-listed for the ACE/Mercers International Book Award, for making an outstanding contribution to the dialogue between religious faith and the visual arts

Winner of the 2010 Albert C. Outler Book Prize given by the American Society of Church History

"Jerrilynn D.Dodds, Maria Rosa Menocal, and Abigail Krasner’s Balbale’s Arts of Intimacy: Christians, Jews, and Muslims in the Making of Castilian Culture stands out in every respect: it is challenging, thorough, and compelling. Its importance lies in conveying the unique cultural and linguistic polyphony of the nascent Castilian culture. Iconographic testimonies from architecture, epigraphy and calligraphy orchestrate the historical voices expressed in an unprecedentedly rich multilingual poetry. A startling and provocative book that puts an end to any essentialist claim to be laid on this exceptional part of Europe."—Angelika Neuwirth

"I am sure the Arts of Intimacy was a labor of love for the authors, but for the reader this brilliantly conceived book opens a window onto a marvelous new vista of Muslim Spain. The Islamic political enterprise in al-Andalus collapsed in 1492, and the human survivors of that debacle were soon either expelled or expunged in baptismal fonts across Catholic Spain. Tourists now stand in admiration before the great monuments of once Spanish Islam, the solemn grandeur of the Córdoban Mezquita and the dazzling but ineffably sad rococo of the Alhambra, truly the Moors’ last sigh in Spain. But in this happy collaboration of a photographer, an art historian and a belle de letters, we are shown other Islamic monuments in Spain, often silent and unassuming ones, but more popular than the imperial mosque of Córdoba and certainly more essentially revealing than the studied curlicues of the Alhambra.

After they had rid themselves of the professed Muslims, the Spanish Christians began feverishly to scrub out even their faintest traces in their need to guarantee a true limpieza de sangre. How poorly they succeeded is documented in the Arts of Intimacy. There, hidden in plain sight in the cities and towns of Castile, are the local monuments of  the Moorish style, the Western Islamic view of life and art that had worked its way deep into the fabric of Spanish sensibility. Both before and after 1492 Islamic decorative art and architecture continued to manifest itself, like flowers in mid-winter, in unlikely places across profoundly Catholic Castile and in the unexpected settings so magnificently portrayed and unpacked and understood in the dense but lucid pages of the Arts of Intimacy. Like Her Catholic Majesty Isabella accepting the surrender of Muslim Granada arrayed quite unselfconsciously in her best Moorish apparel, the Art of Intimacy shows how Castile itself continued to adorn her public face in the gracious manner of the Moors and, indeed, in the end, thought it was her natural complexion."—F. E. Peters, New York University

"A delightful blend of poetry and solid science. How a nation was born out of fascination for the enemy it was victoriously fighting, gaining momentum 'with each meal shared, or bridle admired, each textile or ivory box received in tribute,' and with each story told."—Gabriel Martinez-Gros

"All Medievalists should welcome and treasure this splendid book. Here we see, in an innovative and eminently convincing perspective, the unique phenomenon of medieval Iberia, as a collaborative and also as a conflictive creation of Castilians belonging to the three religions. As much for scholars interested in literature and language, as for those concerned with art and architecture, this book will be 'must' reading. Dodds, Menocal, and Krasner Balbale deserve our thanks and our congratulations."—Samuel G. Armistead