King of the Confessors

When first published, in 1981, King of the Confessors caused a furore. Thomas Hoving was director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art from 1967 to 1977, during which time his commitment to the popularisation of art aroused much controversy. After leaving the museum he published two books - Tutankhamun: The Untold Story and King of the Confessors - which were controversial because they contained revelations about the Museum's (and his own) somewhat dubious activities in acquiring and disposing of works of art.

King of the Confessors has three main protagonists: a magnificent cross, intricately carved from walrus ivory in the 12th century; Topic Ante Mimara, the shady Yugoslav owner of the cross; and Thomas Hoving, in 1963 a curatorial assistant at the Metropolitan Museum, who was determined at all costs to acquire the cross for the Museum. Its main secondary character is James Rorimer, then Director of the Museum, whom Hoving had to persuade to pay the $600,000 which Mimara was demanding for the cross.

Adopting the style of a thriller - which upset some strait-laced critics of the first edition - Hoving tells a gripping story of his dealings with Mimara and Rorimer as he tried to acquire the cross, and gives a no less intriguing account of his attempts to discover the origin of the cross itself and understand its complex iconography. In revising the book for this new edition, he draws upon new sources which make the story of its acquisition even more exciting, and adds significantly to his account of the cross's origin and iconography.

Of particular interest is Hoving's discussion of the 'Bury St Edmunds connection': the question whether the cross was created, as he believes, by Master Hugo at the Abbey of Bury St Edmunds. In the new edition Hoving argues strongly against those who doubt this attribution, and also defends vigorously his view that the cross expresses anti-Jewish sentiments.