Visualizing Sicily: Rethinking the Approach to the Royal Commissions of Roger II

In 1091, the Islamic Emirate of Sicily fell to the Christian Normans, who began to transform the island into a kingdom under the leadership of Roger II (1095-1154). Roger and his court sought to combine aspects of Sicily's... [ view full abstract ]

In 1091, the Islamic Emirate of Sicily fell to the Christian Normans, who began to transform the island into a kingdom under the leadership of Roger II (1095-1154). Roger and his court sought to combine aspects of Sicily's recent Islamic and Byzantine past into its present Norman rule, which created a "tolerant" society where Christians and Muslims coexisted in relative peace. His artistic royal commissions could be considered a synthesis of Mediterranean styles. Art historical research, however, has often interpreted the art and architecture of Roger's Sicily by dissecting these objects into ethnic, religious, or art historical categories. As evident in the scholarship on Palermo's Cappella Palatina, which combines Romanesque, Islamic, and Byzantine elements, scholars typically only see and examine their artistic or historical specialty, leaving behind a multitude of conflicting opinions that complicate a more holistic understanding of Roger's royal Sicilian commissions. Through an examination of the Mantle of Roger II, I contextualize the garment within the king's reign and more importantly within the larger medieval Mediterranean world in order to prove how modern art historical labels have limited our perceptions of Roger II's royal commissions.