Mediaeval Sicily, aspects of life and art in the middle ages . ning thedesign. The inscription is here in Arabic, andrecords that the mantle was worked in the royalfactory of Palermo in the year of the Hegira 528( 1134). The crown worn with these magnificent garmentsmaybe studied in the dedication mosaics of the Mar-torana and Monreale (PI. III., IV.), and comparedwith the one priceless treasure left in Palermo, the 135 MEDIEVAL SICILY crown of the Empress Constance, found intact whenthe Royal Tombs were opened in the eighteenthcentury, and now preserved in the Treasury of theCathedral, Th
Mediaeval Sicily, aspects of life and art in the middle ages . ning thedesign. The inscription is here in Arabic, andrecords that the mantle was worked in the royalfactory of Palermo in the year of the Hegira 528( 1134). The crown worn with these magnificent garmentsmaybe studied in the dedication mosaics of the Mar-torana and Monreale (PI. III., IV.), and comparedwith the one priceless treasure left in Palermo, the 135 MEDIEVAL SICILY crown of the Empress Constance, found intact whenthe Royal Tombs were opened in the eighteenthcentury, and now preserved in the Treasury of theCathedral, This head-dress has a crown of reddishgold brocade between the broad bands of seedpearls and gold, is studded sumptuously with jewelsin gold sockets, one of these bearing a longishArabic inscription in minute Neshki characters,and has beautiful Byzantine pendants on either side,of gold and fine pearls. The rim is studded withexquisite little fleurs-de-lis or rather palmettoes,markedly Oriental in character, of finest filigree,with rich blue turquoises. 136 XII. CROWN FOUND IN THE TOMB OF THE E^!PRESS CONSTANCE, TREASURY, CATHEDRAL, PALERMOInieri^K^^lielnii, Palermo p. [36 CHAPTER VII THE MARTORANA, THE CAPPELLA PALATINA ANDSOME SMALLER CHURCHES IN PALERMO Tradition assigns the founding of several churchesto the eleventh century, three by Robert Guiscardin Palermo, and one of these under extremely pic-turesque circumstances. According to the traditionit was when the brothers were besieging Palermoand Guiscard had taken up his quarters in an Arabcastle (later converted by the Normans into a hospitalfor lepers) on the banks of the Oreto, in the regionthen known for beautiful gardens and sumptuousvillas. Many questions would be solved if we couldaccept the date of this foundation as the date of thebuilding of the little church of S. Giovanni deiLepprosi, with its three-aisled basilican nave termi-nating in a Greek east end with three apses and adome. In that case the very first churc
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Keywords: ., boo, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectart, bookyear1910
