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Arab-Norman Art of Sicily

Type Object Region Sicily Time 1161–1170

Between 1161 and 1170, Norman Sicily continued and developed its Arab-Byzantine-Latin fused artistic tradition, seen in Palermo's royal palace, Palat…

Timeline

  1. 1161–1166Palatine Chapel · PalermoIn the 1160s under William I, the gold-leaf mosaics and Arab-style wooden ceiling of the Palatine Chapel (consecrated 1140) remained the core of court ceremony; Byzantine iconography and Islamic decorative grammar coexisted here, a model of the mature phase of fused art.
  2. 1162–1168Zisa Palace · PalermoIn the 1160s, Islamic-style summer palaces such as the Zisa in Palermo displayed the Norman court's absorption of Arab architectural aesthetics through arcades, fountains and geometric stucco decoration; such buildings together with the chapel constituted the spatial system of the Arab-Norman style.
  3. 1166–1170Palermo · SicilyDuring William II's regency, Sicilian workshops continued producing fused-style crafts and carrying out architectural repairs; around 1170 the tradition had accumulated the technical and aesthetic paradigms for larger projects soon to be built, such as Monreale Cathedral.

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