Ricerc@Sapienza

This paper compares a Medieval iconographic theme depicted on some stucco friezes from the Jazīra (Museum für Islamische Kunst, Berlin) and a few terracotta tiles from the church of Santa Maria d’Anglona (Matera). These iconographies share similar patterns (zoomorphic elements, also with an astrological-mythological meaning) framed by Arabic inscriptions or pseudo-inscriptions.

Inscribed hemispherical cups and stem cups, respectively resting on splayed and trumpet-shaped feet, are typical metalworks of Islamic manufacture produced from Iran to the Jazīra in the 12th and 13th centuries. The hemispherical cups may or may not have had lids and some of them were especially intended for serving food, such as the ‘talking makhfiyya’ portrayed in the famous Mamluk basin known as the Baptistère de Saint Louis.