European art and the wider world 1350-1550 considers select examples of European art and material culture through the lens of global connections. Through close examination of a wide array of objects such as altarpieces, ceramics and featherwork, it explores European visual culture during the 'age of exploration'. It considers the reception in Europe of objects from Asia, America and Africa and examines works of art as an insight into cultural encounter and conflict in a wide variety of contexts, including Venice, Al-Andalus and Goa. The book is animated by art-historical approaches that have recently transformed the study of the art of this era. It re-casts works that have long featured in a history of a quintessentially Western 'Renaissance' in the light of travel, trade and cultural encounters, and broadens the traditional focus of interest to include material culture.

Introduction - Kathleen Christian and Leah Clark1 Renaissance altarpieces: the far in the near - Kathleen Christian2 Cultural crossings in Spain and the New World c. 1350-c.1550 - Kim Woods3 Collecting the world: art, nature, and representation - Leah Clark4 Aspects of art in Venice: encounters with the East - Paul Wood with Kathleen Christian and Leah ClarkConclusion - Kathleen Christian and Leah Clark Index