The Kingdon of Sicily database project

The Kingdom of Sicily database project is an (almost!) online scholarly research tool of images that document monuments in the South Italy from the 10^th through the 15^th centuries. Our goal is to collect plans, drawings and views from libraries, museums and archives of American and European collections that can inform our understanding of the historical development of architecture in its urban and rural contexts. The monuments of South Italy have often been destroyed by war, damaged in the earthquakes, or profoundly transformed by restoration - and in some cases, all three. The prints, drawings, maps, and photographs made by artists, scholars and travellers from the 15^th to the 20^th centuries help us recover the appearance of monuments and their decoration, as well as urban and natural landscapes, prior to radical renovation or destruction.

We hope our project will become an important resource for the documentation and study of the rich historic patrimony that formed part of the Norman, Swabian, Angevin and Aragonese dynasties of South Italy and help scholars and the public understand the historic patrimony of South Italy.

This project was funded (2011-2015) by the National Endowment for the Humanities (USA), and supported by Duke University and the Hertziana Library in Rome. It is directed by Caroline Bruzelius (Duke University) and William Tronzo (UCSD) with Paola Vitolo (Università di Catania) as the Project Coordinator. The database will become active this summer (2015) and we intend it as an open access resource.

We invite contributions from institutions and scholars, and will of course acknowledge all assistance and collaboration in adding to this archive. Please feel free to contact us at the project’s address: kosicily@gmail.com

Louis-Jean Desprez (1743-1804). Lucera, Castle Carl Blechen (1798-1840). Amalfi, Arsenal