About The Medieval Kingdom of Sicily Image Database

The Medieval Kingdom of Sicily Image Database was created to collect, organize, and display historical representations of medieval monuments and cities in southern Italy for the purposes of study and research. The database brings together drawings, prints, maps, ground plans and elevations, manuscript illuminations, paintings, early photographs, and other images made before c. 1950 to document sites in the medieval Kingdom of Sicily (c. 1100–1450).

Historical representations of monuments and built environments in southern Italy are important documents because over the centuries, the region’s cultural heritage has been profoundly affected by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and other natural disasters, as well as by urban renewal projects, urban expansion and industrialization, and war—not least bombardment during World War II. Close study of images in the database allows us to understand the early forms of these sites and to trace their transformations over time.

Sources of the material gathered here include public and private collections, museums, archives, libraries, print books, and online repositories. We include images of monuments and cities, as well as interior furnishings and decorative programs such as tombs, altars, mosaics, sculpture, pavements, and frescoes. The database is not intended to provide comprehensive historical information about sites, historical representations, or artists. Rather, it serves as a repository of visual material that informs study and research, reveals patterns across places and times, and opens new avenues of inquiry.

Database entries for historical representations are indexed by location, artist, and collection. The database is searchable by these and other criteria, and by keywords. The website is extensively cross-linked to invite further exploration and research. More recent images produced or published after c. 1950, including architectural plans, photographs, and reconstructions, are included in the “Visual Documents” category for each monument represented.

Learn more about how to use the database, and read our guidelines for copyright and reuse.

We invite you to read about the history of the Medieval Kingdom of Sicily Image Database project. The project’s database and website represent the work of many dedicated people and institutions; learn about our project team, and visit our acknowledgements page.

We ask all users to cite this resource in their publications as “[identification of specific content], The Medieval Kingdom of Sicily Image Database, The Edith O’Donnell Institute of Art History, https://koseodiah.org/, used pursuant to a CC-BY-NC 4.0 license.”

We gratefully accept suggestions and corrections from users; please write to us via our contact form.