Black box in red: porphyry in space and time

ABSTRACT

Porphyry, a specific type of igneous rock, highly appreciated because of its purple tone, remains throughout western history a central feature in strategies of political representation: Roman and Byzantine emperors, as well as medieval kings and modern leaders have assessed it in the course of the execution of their rule. They all drew on the long and distinct symbolical tradition of the use of porphyry. However, the significance of the precious material also derived from a unique history of exploitation, distribution and workmanship that endowed porphyry with an exclusive spatial connotation. This paper indicates this history in the exemplary case of the four porphyry sarcophagi of the Norman kings and Holy Roman emperors in Palermo Cathedral.

KEYWORDS:

• Iconology
• material iconography
• object-based history
• political representation
• migration of images
• pathways of portability

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributor

Johannes von Müller studied History of Art and History in Berlin and Rome, and has a PhD in Art History from the Universität Basel studying the contribution of images to a political order in pre-modern societies. He currently coordinates the international research group ‘Bilderfahrzeuge: Aby Warburg’s Legacy and the Future of Iconology’ at the Warburg Institute, London, and is working on Norman Palermo (eleventh–twelfth centuries).