Jerusalem and the Crusades

For this blog post, we are going to be looking at two different painting. These impressive paintings were both painted by European artist in the fifteenth century. They were created so books had beautiful decoration and so there was a proper representation of both events that occurred during the crusades. They really are beautiful paintings. This first painting is titled The Looting of Jerusalem and the second painting is titled How Jerusalem was Captured by Saladin. The first painting on the top is about the Christian's taking over Jerusalem. This event occurred in 1099. The second painting, on the bottom, represents how Saladin took the city back in the year 1187. These paintings are both historical events, but the illustration of Jerusalem are extravagant. You will notice Western European influence mostly in the architecture. Also, these paintings were done centuries after this historic event. Because they were done years after this event you can see how Europeans viewed the crusades in the aftermath.