Essays showing how the stuff of Norman Sicily, its mosaics, frescoes, art and architecture, was used to construct its history. Material culture played a crucial role in developing the cultural narrative of Norman Sicily. The essays in this book consider how images, designs, artifacts, structures and objects were used to help create the story of the medieval kingdom, and what they reveal about the complex political and social dynamics that underpinned the so-called "multicultural" state. Arguing that a visual language developed in medieval Sicily and southern Italy in this period, the contributions journey through both familiar and unexplored aspects of Siculo-Norman art, in particular those areas which have only been made possible with recent advances in technology and international academic collaboration. Topics addressed include manuscripts and mosaics, textile diplomacy, the drama of coins and trade, new readings of old buildings, and the insights of archaeological excavations into everyday life. All of the ideas presented in this volume converge on the central theme of how material culture helped to develop story and society in the medieval kingdom of Sicily.

About the Author
EMILY A. WINKLER is a Fellow of St Edmund Hall and member of the History Faculty at the University Oxford. LIAM FITZGERALD is a PhD student at King's College London. ANDREW SMALL is a DPhil student at Exeter College, University of Oxford. EMILY A. WINKLER is a Fellow of St Edmund Hall and member of the History Faculty at the University Oxford. LIAM FITZGERALD is a PhD student at King's College London.

Reviews
Designing Norman Sicily signals a refreshing break from modish paradigms of hybridity and multiculturality, hallmarking regional identity, artistic creativity and choice, as shapers of medieval Sicily and Italy in a way that is certain to promote and provoke debate. -- SPECULUM
Captures the state-of-the-art of the diverse scholarship on Norman Sicily and provides a stimulating and accessible set of studies. * MEDIEVAL ARCHAEOLOGY *



Book Information
ISBN 9781783274895
Author Emily A. Winkler
Format Hardback
Page Count 256
Imprint The Boydell Press
Publisher Boydell & Brewer Ltd
Weight(grams) 1g