The crusader lining of one of the most important monuments of early Christianity takes up local, Byzantine, and European traditions, eastern and western impulses to emphasize a locus sanctus that supports the Christian claim to universality. It is close to a miracle that such a diverse network of sometimes contradictory requirements and traditions as the one extant in crusader Holy Land merged into an exceptionally consistent program.
- The best experts of crusader art in the Holy Land explain the equipment of the Church of the Nativity in its historical, art-historical and theological context
- Of particular value are the photographs of Gustav Kühnel, important documents of the state of the mosaics before their restoration
- With a new edition of the mosaic inscriptions by Erich Lamberz in English translation