A Byzantine emperor was depicted in Christian art with Muslim visual markers

Evidence

The figure is believed to be inspired by Manuel II Paleologus, the Byzantine emperor who traveled to Rome, Paris, and London between 1399 and 1402, hoping in vain to drum up support for his struggle with the Ottomans. The same character reappears as the magus of the East in the Meeting of the Magi (folio 51 verso). — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 160

Categorization

• CANDY: The awkwardness of a besieged Christian emperor painted in Persian hat and curved sword is genuinely fun — a historical irony in a single image.