Organised by the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, in collaboration with the Terra Sancta Museum and the Custody of the Holy Land, the exhibition Treasures from Kings. Masterpieces from the Terra Sancta Museum brings to Lisbon, for the first time, the artistic treasure of the Terra Sancta Museum, comprising donations made by European Catholic monarchs to the Holy Land over the course of five hundred years.

Expert advisor and commissioner Jacques-Charles Gaffiot writes the introduction of the catalogue, as well as the first and last of four essays in the first part of the publication accompanying the exhibition. In the first of these, the author traces the centuries-old history of royal offerings that kept pace with the development of the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre; in the last, he discusses worship based on Catholic liturgy. Between the two, Marie-Armelle Beaulieu writes about the importance of the Franciscan friars in the Holy Land and Teresa Leonor M. Vale describes the offerings made by the Portuguese crown to this territory.

Reflecting the structure of the exhibition space, the second part of the catalogue is divided into four sections. Jerusalem, ‘Centre of the World’ looks at this city’s central role in Christian religion. From Constantine ‘the Great’ to Suleiman ‘the Magnificent’ spans several centuries of History, from Emperor Constantine’s conversion to Christianity, marking the start of the phenomenon of pilgrimages to Jerusalem, to the control of this territory by the Ottoman Empire. Next, ‘Theatrum Mundi’: Royal Donations to the Holy Places identifies donations from the kingdoms of Spain, Portugal, France, Naples and the Holy Roman Empire to the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre. Finally, Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian and Jerusalemexplores the Gulbenkian family’s religious and emotional bond to this land.

In addition to the abundant illustrations, each section contains texts relating to the works, by various authors.