" Entre Orient et Occident : l'image de saint Jean du XIe au XIVe siècle "

Numéro spécial consacré à l'Art médiéval de la MéditerranéeInternational audienceIn the Greek and Latin medieval world, the figure of saint John was not only widespread in christian imagery, but also in the universe of monks and laymen. The iconographical thought, which guided the illustrations of the life of the Baptist answering to the definition of "cycles", demonstrates the early interest of the Byzantines for this saint, as well as the sharp increase in st John cycles in Western art at the end of the XIIth century. The saint occupied a privileged position in Italy because of the communal organization of the cities in the Center and North. The augmentation of the artistic interest in John, in the years 1180-1200, also was the result of aspirationclose to those present at the birth of the new mendicant orders. This study proposes an open analysis, in terms of contamination between the image of st John the Baptist and that of st Francis