Princely Gifts & Papal Treasures

FINE provided book design for Lauren Arnold’s Princely Gifts & Papal Treasures: The Franciscan Mission to China & Its Influence on the Art of the West, 1250-1350.

As you know, the Franciscans had active and prolonged contact with China during the century of the Pax Mongolica (ca. 1250—1350). They established missions in China and carried princely gifts back and forth between the popes in Rome and the Yuan emperors in Beijing. The author documents this extensive medieval contact, and proposes that a significant exchange occurred between the artistic traditions of East and West during this era as well.

For this book detailing an important segment of world history, we paid special attention to the pace of archival imagery aside the lengthy, highly-footnoted text to allow readers to navigate the book without distraction, yet easily follow references and footnotes as they like.