"Like the Coronation
mosaic in the Martorana, Roger's assumption of Frankish ritual and Byzantine
regalia signified that his monarchy was responsible to God alone; it
was a declaration of independence from papal political interference."
Eve Borsook, Messages in Mosaic:
The Royal Programmes of Norman Sicily (1130-1187) (Clarendon Studies in
the History of Art; Oxford: 1990) 6 |