A comprehensive and timely exploration of the key role Jerusalem played in shaping the art and culture of the Middle Ages Medieval Jerusalem was a vibrant international center and home to multiple cultures, faiths, and languages. Harmonious and dissonant influences from Persian, Turkish, Greek, Syrian, Armenian, Georgian, Coptic, Ethiopian, Indian, and European traditions invested Jerusalem with a key role in shaping the art of the Middle Ages. Through compelling essays by international and interdisciplinary experts and detailed discussions of more than 200 works of art, this beautiful, authoritative volume breaks new ground in exploring the relationship between the historical and the archetypal city of Jerusalem, uncovering the ways in which the aesthetic achievements it inspired enhanced and enlivened the medieval world. Patrons and artists from Christian, Jewish, and Islamic traditions alike focused their attention on the Holy City, endowing and enriching its sacred buildings and creating luxury goods for its residents. This artistic fertility was particularly in evidence between the 11th and the 14th centuries, notwithstanding often devastating circumstances-from the earthquake of 1033 to the fierce battles of the Crusades. Dazzling illustrations featuring new photography complement this unprecedented, panoptic story of Jerusalem in the Middle Ages. Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art / Distributed by Yale University Press Exhibition Schedule: The Metropolitan Museum of Art (09/26/16-01/08/17)

When Barbara Drake and her husband left Portland and moved to a small farm in western Oregon's Yamhill Valley in the late 1980s, they saw it as a temporary relocation - they would return to the city eventually. But as the couple's experiences on the farm multiplied - training herding dogs, enlisting a pair of traveling dowsers to help them find a good well, and stargazing in a singular nighttime darkness - they decide to hang on to their rural life as long as possible. Barbara Drake articulates the lessons she's learned from her long stint of country living in her new book, Morning Light. Replete with records of native wildflowers, an encounter with an elderly man who lived on her farm eighty years ago, and an old family recipe for wild blackberry pudding, Morning Light is an appreciation and exploration of the landscape of western Oregon, and readers will come to know it better through the book. As entertaining and instructive as it is personal and reflective, Drake's writing will resonate with anyone who has experienced a convergence of family history with natural history, considered their place in the historical continuum, or wondered if their lifestyle can be sustained with age. In a world where even "the country" is becoming increasingly citified, Morning Light reminds us why we should care for our rural landscapes - while we still can.