Sculptural fragments of the furniture from the Crusader church at Beth Guvrin

Presumably, in the third quarter of the 12th century the Hospitallers erected a church in their castle of Beit Gibelin. During the excavations conducted on the site, sculptural fragments belonging to a set of church furniture were found. The article examines these fragments and proposes the dating and the historical context. It discusses the plastic manner and the repertoire of decorative forms and ornamental motifs in comparison with the co-temporal sculpture of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem and of the west. This analysis leads to the conclusion on the European origin of the sculptors (central-eastern and south-eastern France). The example of the sculptural project, which took place at Beit Gibelin, provides an opportunity to discuss the practice of the Hospitallers as commissioners of artistic works. It also contributes to the understanding of the competition between the two major groups of sculptors working in the kingdom, one of them being composed of the sculptors with South Italian ties and the other of artists with various French ties.