Between three worlds : the "Veneto-Saracenic" candleholder of Docheiariou Monastery

The collection of the Docheiariou monastery, held on Mount Athos, contains a Veneto-Saracenic inlaid candleholder decorated with a European coat of arms. While the object itself is a modest, unremarkable example of Mamluk-Latin cultural interaction, its unexpected location in the sacristy of a Greek Orthodox monastery makes for a complex case study. This article, besides presenting this previously unpublished object for the first time, presents a discussion of the dynamic behind the candleholder's reception and the network through which it could have reached Mount Athos. It considers several important questions and serves as a starting point for a renewed analysis of interconnectivity in the eastern Mediterranean during the late Middle Ages. Finally, the article also explores neglected channels of direct and indirect interrelation between Byzantine and Mamluk aesthetics.