FRAGMENT

FRAGMENT OF THE REGAL GOWN OF ROGER II – DATABLE BETWEEN 1133 AND 1134 ( FROM “THE SEPULCHRE GIFTS OF THE DUOMO OF PALERMO RECOGNIZED AND ILLUSTRATED”: FRANCESCO DANIELE, NAPLES 1784)

The richness of the apparel and particularly the pomp of the royal court of Palermo are witnessed by this fragment of silk cloth from the garment of Roger II with designs of knights and real as well as imaginary animals.

The original is held in the king’s sepulchral arc, but the clergyman Rosario De Gregorio, who was present at the recognition of the royal corpse in 1781, drew a sketch which was later copied in a publication commissioned by King Ferdinand of Naples in remembrance of the extraordinary event.