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• 1 2023-04-20T07:12:04-07:00 Greek and Islamic Art in Norman Italy 7 image_header 2023-05-10T04:51:19-07:00 The heavy presence of Greeks in Southern Italy led to many implementations of Greek art and architecture being utilized by the Normans. Thanks to successful Norman raids against the Byzantine Empire, the Normans transported Greek silk weavers from Greece to Italy, where they began production of their own silk industry to counter the Byzantine silk trade in the Mediterranean. The Norman rulers were also regarded as being strong supporters of the arts. A well-known Norman ruler who enjoyed the arts was King Roger II, who had constructed a well-known image of himself in Sicily along the Church of Santa Maria dell’Ammiraglio. This artistic fusion of the Norman Kingdom with the Greeks was seen in their ceremonial clothes as well, where Normans wore garb similar to that of Byzantine emperors, along with the placement of the Byzantine crown on their heads.
  The large presence of Muslim Berbers in the Greek parts of southern Italy also resulted in a blend of Arab-Norman influence in artistic creation throughout the Norman domain. The numerous techniques that came from the Berbers were incorporated with Greco-Norman artistry to form the basis of what became a distinct Arab-Norman art. These artistic techniques include sculptures of ivory and porphyry (a kind of crystallized quartz), bronze foundries, and Siculo-Arab techniques of silk manufacturing that were inherited after the Normans conquered the region. Like its Greek counterpart, the Arab-Norman art style maintained a massive influence throughout the next few centuries of Norman rule.