difficulties in distinguishing between centres of
view of the king’s controversial status the imag-
production 104
ery on the mantle would have been expected to
The iconographic scheme of encircling ser-
convey the legitimacy of his position The lining,
pents is clearly rendered on an eleventh- or early
however, would remain largely unseen, revealing
twelfth-century wine-red and gold samite, the so-
only glimpses of the imagery which was therefore
called relic cover of Saint Amandus, one part of
mainly reserved for the person of the king
which is preserved in the Abegg-Stiftung in
The lining fabrics comprise five successive sec-
Riggisberg, the other in the Cleveland Museum
tions from three different textiles that are, accord-
of Art 105 The textile fragments, which are thought
ing to the motifs, commonly referred to as the
to have a Western Asian provenance, possibly
“Dragon,” the “Tree of Life,” and the “Bird” cloth
from the Saljuq realm, figure staggered beaded
(figs 157a and b) 108 All three types show a grid-
escutcheon-shaped medallions enclosing gigan-
like lattice composed of paired interlaced dragons
tic double-headed eagles with their wings out-
with projecting tongues that define the overall
spread The eagles surmount pairs of addorsed
surface and enclose groups of human figures,
feline quadrupeds whose tails also terminate in
trees, birds and foliate motifs A beaded rinceau
dragon heads with gaping jaws A pair of giant
runs along the body of one of the serpents while
double-headed dragons encloses the entire com-
the body of the other is marked by evenly spaced
position (fig 156)
stripes 109 Since this imagery was chosen for the
An extended form of the encircling dragon
lining of the coronation mantle, a highly official
motif is also found on the lining fabrics of the
and ceremonial vestment, its symbolic content
coronation mantle of Roger II (r 1130–1154), the
must have been imbued with a special signifi-
Norman ruler of Sicily and southern Italy The
cance While the outer face was intended as a
outer face of the red silk cloak, which was woven
visual statement of the king’s claim to power and
in the royal workshop (dār al-ṭirāz) in Palermo
authority, the inner one may be seen as having
and carries an inscription in Kufic dating it to
an implicit talismanic intent This may be com-
the year 528/1133–4, is embroidered with gold
pared to the use of talismanic shirts covered with
thread and pearls with a central palm tree sepa-
Qurʾānic verses often in conjunction with astro-
rating addorsed tigers attacking camels 106 This
logical and magical practices and devices that
iconography not only represents the cosmological
were often worn under the outer garments (or
and emblematic motifs that symbolised Roger’s
armour) and of which a considerable number of
claim to power, but also creates a link beyond the
Turko-Iranian examples are recorded 110 These
western Norman domain to the Islamic sphere,
shirts were destined to protect the owner, avert
which is underlined by the fact that the embroi-
injury or illness, and thereby bestow invulner-
dered inscription along the lower hem of the
ability The encircling dragon motif which deco-
garment is written in Arabic, a language used at
rates the lining fabric that covers the inside of the
Roger’s court and in which he was fluent 107 In
coronation mantle may therefore be presumed to
104 Soucek, 1997, pp 405–7; Glory of Byzantium, 1997,
di Palermo riconosciuti e illustrati, Naples, 1784) It may
p 416 (catalogue entry no 271 by Daniel Walker); Hoffman,
further be compared to an eleventh- or twelfth-century
2001, pp 18, 26
drawing from Egypt with continuous scroll patterns, the
105 On the Cleveland fragment of the relic cover of Saint
lower band of which is composed of paired dragons with
Amandus only the feathery tail and claws of the eagle survive
raised confronted heads, gaping mouths and projecting
A further fragment is preserved in the collection of Rina and
tongues touching at the centre, now in Berlin, Museum
Norman Indictor, New york
für Islamische Kunst, inv no I 6608; von Wilckens, 1997,
106 The mantle was subsequently used for the coronation
p 169, fig 96 Cf Gierlichs, 1993, p 40, cat no 5; Grube
of the German emperors of the Roman Holy Empire
and Johns, 2005, p 260, fig 94 5
and entered the treasury of the Vienna Kunsthistorisches
109 It may not be irrelevant to note that the motif of the
Museum in 1801, inv no XIII 14; height 146 cm, length 345
serpent also appears in the pavement of the main apse, the
cm Nobilis Officinae, 2005, pp 259–64, cat no 66; Tronzo,
Sancta Sanctorum, in the Cappella Palatina, inlaid on either
2001, pp 241–53
side with a large twice looped serpent, which, according to
107 For a translation of the inscription, see Nobilis Offi-
William Tronzo (1997, pp 33–4, fig 26; see idem, p 34 and
cinae, 2005, pp 259–64, cat no 66 (in German); Hoffman,
n 20, for comparable examples), may have apotropaic mean-
2001, p 32 (in English)
ing Its association with an “Oriental” repertoire of motifs is
108 Nobilis Officinae, 2005, pp 256–9, esp p 257, cat no
strengthened by the existence of a panel with addorsed lions
65 A textile from the tomb of Roger I, Norman Count of
symmetrically flanking a stylised tree at the nave entrance to
Sicily from 1071 to 1101, in Palermo belongs to this group,
the choir; idem, p 34, fig 27
of which today only a drawing of 1784 survives Idem, cat
110 See Turks, 2005, 442, 458–9, cat nos 257, 322; and
no 65, fig 1 (after Daniele, F , I regali sepolcri del Duomo
Tezcan, 2006
vestiges of ancient dragon iconographies
155
have been intended not only to protect the king
Anne Wardwell has tentatively dated another silk
but also to endow him with certain abilities or
and gold textile decorated with parallel curving
powers
vines which also forms part of the lining of the
Research into the silk and gold thread textiles
mantle to the period between the third decade and
underlines on the one hand the characteristics of
the last quarter of the thirteenth century,112 hence
Byzantine court production, the panni imperiali,
suggesting that a section of the lining was added
while on the other pointing to stylistic features
at a later date The al-Sabāh textile has been radio-
pertaining to Central Asia and the Ancient Orient
carbon dated to between 1154 and 1282 Regret-
The closely related iconographies indicate the use
tably, the test results are not specific enough to be
of pattern books that seem to have circulated
able to determine in which of the two centuries
among different workshops involved in making
the textile was fashioned The Samangan fragment
the “golden textiles ” In view of the complexity of
with three-partite heart-shaped knots fashioned
cultural identification, Eva Hoffmann proposes
of serpent-dragons certainly underlines the wide
the existence of a “shared textile vocabulary of
circulation of this significant iconographic repre-
the international courts between the tenth and
sentation The continued use of a motif associated
the twelfth centuries from Islamic, Byzantine and
with ancient Iranian ideas is not surprising given
Norman centres ”111
that, despite the triumph of Islam, the people of
The possibility of an eastern, and perhaps Cen-
the eastern Islamic lands hung on to their pre-
tral Asian, provenance for the overal iconography
Islamic roots and associated iconographic notions
is strengthened by the discovery of a silk fragment
more assiduously than those in most other areas
from Samangan province in Afghanistan, now
of the Islamic world
preserved in the al-Sabāh Collection in Kuwait
(figs 158a and b) In the same manner as on the
“Bird Cloth,” the Samangan fragment also shows
b The drinking dragon
a large, inverted pretzel-like interlace, formed by
the ophidian bodies of four serpent-dragons All
It is interesting to consider the exceptional motif
the details of the iconographic expression, includ-
of the drinking dragon which is depicted on the
ing palmette-like trees flanked by perched birds
so-called “Dragon Cloth” section of the lining
in the lobes of the interlace and the beaded or
of the coronation mantle of Roger II The open-
striped demarcation of the ophidian bodies as well
mouthed dragon heads are shown with projecting
as their projecting red tongues, are near-identical
tongues, apparently lapping from the contents of
to those of the “Bird Cloth” (fig 157a and b)
the stemmed cups (fig 159) 113 The same motif is
It would certainly be wrong to attempt to assign
found above the lintel of the southern outer door
the motif to a single artistic tradition However,
of the monastery of Mār Behnām/Deir al-Khiḍr,
it is worthy of note that the motifs enclosed by
an important place of pilgrimage associated
the confronted giant dragons that divide up the
with miraculous healing by both Christians and
entire surface include the ancient Iranian cosmo-
Muslims The two addorsed intertwined dragons
logical motif of the tree with birds This motif is
are portrayed with wide-open mouths and long
closely related to the representation on the Byz-
tongues with entwined bifid tips that also appear
antine enamelled medallion from the Pala d’Oro
to drink from a stemmed cup (fig 160)
(fig 151) which, although it was made in Con-
The same visual formulation can be observed
stantinople, was clearly inspired by Iranian and
in an illustration in the Vani Gospels, a Georgian
Central Asian visual expressions This artistic tra-
manuscript transcribed and illuminated in Con-
dition permeates also the more complex iconog-
stantinople at Romani Monastery by the Georgian
raphy on the “Bird Cloth” lining fabric found in
monk Ioane for the celebrated Georgian queen
the coronation mantle of Roger II Even though
Tʿamar (1184–1211/2) in c 1200 A canon table set
it would at first sight seem likely that the lining
within an architectural frame of columns support-
fabrics were inserted at the time the coronation
ing arches is surmounted at the apex by paired
mantle of Roger II was made (dated 528/1133–4),
serpents that lap with bifid tongues at the liquid
111 Hoffman, 2001, p 34
ing griffins and lions antithetically placed on either side of
112 Wardwell, 1988–9, p 110, with references, and fig 48
a bowl-shaped vase are featured on the relief ornamentation
113 Cf Nobilis Officinae, 2005, pp 124, 126, figs 1 and
of the Mshattā façade in present-day Jordan built during
2, pp 256–9, cat no 65 (“Dragon Cloth”) Pairs of drink-
the early Islamic period See Creswell, 1932, pls 66–74
156