DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: We're
in the Hofburg in Vienna, in the royal treasury,
which is filled with crowns and scepters. DR. BETH HARRIS:
Reliquaries and jewels. It's amazing. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: And
one of the real treasures is an enormous
mantle that was worn during the coronations of
the Holy Roman emperors. But that's not what
this was made for. This was made in the
12th century in Sicily-- actually, in the royal
workshops of Roger II, who was a Norman that ruled. Now the Normans,
you might remember, actually began as Vikings. They came down from the
north and they eventually settled in Northwestern France
and also at the bottom of Italy and the island of Sicily. And that's where this was made. DR. BETH HARRIS: So this
is a really large cloak. You can see the
clasps at the top, for where it would have been
worn over the shoulders. And it's made of red silk,
gold stitching, and thousands of pearls, and enamel
plates, and jewels. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: And it's
in exceptional condition. The enamel is made of cloisonne,
where very fine walls of gold separate the enamels themselves
as they melt, as they vitrify. And what's so interesting
about this mantle is if you look at its
imagery, even though it was made for a Christian ruler,
it's full of Islamic motifs. It was made by Islamic artisans. DR. BETH HARRIS: And we see
that in the lion overpowering a camel. We see it in the
calligraphic script along the semicircular bottom. And the tree of
life in the center. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: A motif
almost identical to that in the Dome of the
Rock in Jerusalem. These are motifs that come
out of pattern books that would have transversed
the Islamic world and were copied over
hundreds of years. DR. BETH HARRIS:
The robe was clearly meant to symbolize power. Look at the forms
of those lions. They're schematic and not
terribly naturalistic, but they evoke a real
sense of fierceness in their faces and
their puffed out chests. And the camels look so
subdued and overpowered. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: Those
camels are domesticated. They're actually
wearing saddles. One of the interpretations
of this iconography, of this symbolism, is that
the lions are actually representing the Normans. The house of Roger II had
as its symbol the lion. Whereas the camel might be
a reference to the peoples that Roger had conquered. DR. BETH HARRIS: So
although this cloak was made in the 12th century,
it acquired the legend that it was made
for Charlemagne, for the very first Holy Roman
Emperor for the 9th century. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: But we
know that that's not the case because, in fact, the Kufic
conscription, Arabic writing, gives us a specific date. DR. BETH HARRIS:
This mantle is worked in the most magnificent
royal splendor. Perfection, might, superiority,
approval, prosperity, magnanimity, beauty,
the fulfillment of all desires and hopes,
felicitous days and nights without cease or change. With authority,
with honor, freedom from harm, triumph,
and livelihood in the city of Sicily
in the year 528. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER:
528, according to the Islamic calendar, dating
from the time of Muhammad. This correlated with
the 12th century in the Western calendar. Those plates also have
an important iconography that has an Islamic origin. You'll see a star
that's made out of the intersection
of two squares. And going back to the
beginning of Islam there was a notion that
the Earth was a square and the heavens were a square. And here we see those overlaid. And so you do have a
cosmological reference. And perhaps a reference that
Roger, himself, ruled overall. DR. BETH HARRIS: There's
a clear sense here of speaking to the
owner's grandeur. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: Just
imagine through history those that were crowned
Holy Roman Emperor wearing this garment. Carrying an orb. Carrying a scepter. The pope. A huge ensemble of the most
powerful people in the West. It must have been
quite a sight to see.