The Crown of Jerusalem:

A unique mosaic in the chapel of the Austro-Hungarian Hospice in Jerusalem portrays Emperor and Apostolic King Franz Joseph I showing the Holy City, which crowns the high hills at the horizon, to Crusaders and Peaceful Pilgrims who follow him. The haloed image of the city cloaked in the white light of the rising sun sheds its aura of holiness on the monarch, evoking its perception both as eternal heavenly city and as earthly one, object of contest between the many aspirants to its rule. This book aims at a better understanding of the ways in which social groups, chroniclers, historians and artists construct images and narratives of a space. It discusses this particular image in the Austrian Hospice in Jerusalem in relation to other, similarly sophisticated representations in Europe. These images are considered as expressions of the significance conferred on the Holy City by the European powers, within the national and European realities of the time, defined by conflicting political interests fed by growing nationalism, imperialism, colonialism and Orientalism. Lily Arad teaches History of the Visual Arts in the Land of Israel, past and present, and participates in the research project SPECTRUM. Visual Translations of Jerusalem at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.