Princely Gifts and Papal Treasures: The Franciscan Mission to China and Its Influence on the Art of the West, 1250-1350

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.