Around 1974 Gilbert & George began to make ordered rectangular grids of their imagery, a format they have followed and developed to the present day. ‘Crusade’ is an early example of their increasing use of colour. Having trained as sculptors, they were initially uncertain about how to use colour, adding only red at first to their black and white compositions. Here, there is a link between the title, which refers to military expeditions to the Holy Land undertaken by Christians in the Middle Ages, and the fact that the artists are holding the backs of the chairs as if they were crosses.