The Art And Architecture of Islamic Cairo

above: Feasting ruler: twelfth century
(ceiling of the Cappella Palatina, Palermo).
80 The Art and Architecture of Islamic Cairo
priestess Anahita seen in an Achaemenid silver vase in the Hermitage
Museum, St Petersburg. The rhythmic structure of the figure is rendered
through the swirling arabesques embroidered in her dress,
the contours of her body, and the folds of drapery which long foreshadow
the dynamics of Cubism and Futurism. It is an enduring motif
in Islamic art and was absorbed elsewhere in the art of Byzantium,
most noticeably, in two of the small panels in the eleventh-century
gold and enamelled crown of Constantine IX Monomachus in the
Magyar Nemzeti Muzeum, Budapest. Trade and cross-cultural links
with Venice were strong and Fatimid merchandise and art was
widely exported to the West. The origin of the ivories in Berlin and
Florence was probably Sicily, where they were most likely either
exported from Egypt or made by Fatimid artists in Sicily.
FATIMID PAINTING
Sicily came under Arab rule when the Aghlabid rulers of Tunisia
occupied the country in 827. In 909 it was incorporated into the
Fatimid empire and its culture flourished under the Kalbite dynasty
until the Normans, led by Count Roger, invaded the island and
finally wrested control from the Arabs in 1091. In Sicily Roger I
encountered a superior Muslim culture which he adopted,
encouraged and patronized with great enthusiasm. Under his
patronage and that of his Arabophile successors, Sicily became a
brilliant melting pot of Arab–Christian culture. It was a cultural
collaboration in which the arts, sciences and philosophy
flourished, and through their territorial hold on southern Italy, the
Normans became the main transmitters of Muslim learning to Italy.
The Latin, Greek and Arabic speaking people of Sicily imported the
culture of Muslim Spain and translated and disseminated major
works of Aristotle with Avicenna’s commentaries, as well as other
ancient works such as Ptolemy’s Almagest and Optica. The Norman
kings, described as ‘baptised sultans’, spoke Arabic, wore Muslim
dress, appointed Muslim officials and in some cases formed their
own harems. 7
The most interesting visual expression of this cultural union
is the royal chapel in Palermo, the Cappella Palatina (1131–40),
built for Roger II. The chapel has a basilican plan with nave and
side aisles terminating in a triple-apsed sanctuary. Above the
polychrome marble dado, all the walls, cupolas and arcades are
covered with Byzantine mosaics executed by Greek craftsmen from
Constantinople. The painted nave ceiling is the work of Arab