Cross-cultural dressing, the medieval South Caucasus and art history

Abstract

Examining diverse representations in various media of the Armenian King Gagik Artsruni (908–936) and the Georgian King Davit IV "the Builder" (1089–1125), this article discusses the modes of appropriation of Islamic and Byzantine regalia in relation to recently developed concepts of "cross-cultural dressing", a feature common in so-called marginal cultures. Looking critically at the art historical canon and the historiography of the South Caucasus region, the article proposes that the phenomenon be seen not as isolated and "provincial" but as indicative of the complex dynamics that moved and shaped the medieval world across its various, shifting boundaries.