Ivory casket decorated with painted saints

This ivory casket was made by Muslim artisans working at the court of a Christian Norman king in Sicily. They depict foliage, animals and musicians in a style from contemporary Islamic Cairo, but also two Christian saints identified by haloes, bishops’ staffs and bibles. The inscription is a supplication, asking for ‘the happiness of a bird, the height of esteem, and conditions which may lead to the right direction and infinite glory; and may the end be perfect and the glory lasting’