The Art And Architecture of Islamic Cairo

shows a central palm tree dividing two groups of lions and camels in
combat. The royal symbolism is less explicit than the Martorana
mosaic, but according to Ettinghausen, the motif of a lion attacking
a weaker beast, with its roots in the ancient Near East, has imperial
symbolism. 32 The style is rich, heraldic and decorative, as one would
expect for a coronation robe. The decorative integration of the design
is masterly in the way that motifs are repeated and transposed. The
tendril of the vine, for instance, forms arabesques on the breasts,
shoulders and flanks of the animals, scrolls along the outstretched
palm and curls into quatrefoils on the border, while the tips of the
palm fronds find their echo in the curling mane and claws of the lion.
However, as in Fatimid pottery, this emblematic style combines with
a remarkable grasp of naturalism revealed in such features as the
buckling of the camels’ legs under the weight of the leaping lions.
The attribution of the coronation mantle to Fatimid artists is mainly
on stylistic and circumstantial grounds and cannot be proved.
More certain in their attribution are the fragments of embroidered
Fatimid textiles in the Newberry Collection in the Ashmolean
Museum, Oxford. They offer some insight into the design of more
modest artefacts such as towels, covers, scarves and shawls.
Unfortunately all that has survived are embroidered fragments and
their original function is a matter of speculation. They show that
above: Coronation mantle of Roger II (Kunsthistorisches Museum).
The Decorative Arts of the Tulunids and Fatimids 97