Recovering the architectural patrimony of South Italy: The Medieval Kingdm of Sicily Image Dataabse

The Medieval Kingdom of Sicily Image Database uses new media technologies to reframe our understanding of medieval Europe by focusing on the role of the built environment for the formation of State identity in the medieval Kingdom of Sicily during the Norman, Swabian, Angevin and Aragonese dynasties (c. 950-1420). The material in the database is important for two reasons: the significance of South Italy as a prototype of multicultural State formation and the highly fragmentary condition (war bombardment, earthquakes, urban transformation) of the sites that played a central role in the power structures of the Kingdom. A comprehensive database of historical images of monuments and cities (prints, drawings, maps, photographs) made by scholars, artists and travellers from the fifteenth century to the twentieth century, can enable scholars and the public to recover the appearance of the landscape, cities, and individual monuments prior to radical renovation or destructions. An interdisciplinary research team is conducting a systematic survey and critical cataloguing of images dispersed in the archives, museums and libraries of Italy, Europe and US.