**6. Conclusions**

In order to summarise the general line of the William II of Hauteville's iconography, we can conclude that this king did not make particularly abundant use of his images

but, in the panorama of the Norman kings of Sicily, he introduced important innovations about the media utilised. On the one hand, he avoided the use of his representations on coins but, on the other hand, he did not limit his image to bulls and seals but he adopted also monumental representations of himself. In particular, he commissioned royal images in mosaic and sculpture for a religious location: The Cathedral of Monreale (more specifically, for its presbytery area and its cloister). However, although these images had a monumental nature, particularly attention to the rendering of the iconographic details and a greater visual impact in comparison with bulls and seals, they were in restricted areas where, in general, only the religious member of Monreale could have access. For this reason, they were presumably addressed only to religious beholders and they did not play a political role or were not part of a specific strategy of usage of the royal image for governmen<sup>t</sup> purposes. In conclusion, they possessed only religious and devotional meanings and functions and were related more with a sort of private (rather than public) sphere. Certainly, bulls and seals had a greater circulation and, they could reach a wide part of population. However, their images had little sizes, every detail of the royal image was less visible, and their use did not seem to be particularly frequent during William II's reign (and, in any case, limited at the governing class). The iconographic themes adopted in these artefacts present William II seated on the throne, crowned by Christ and as a donor of gifts towards Christ or the Virgin. In the rendering of the royal image (and the related symbols of power, attires and physical features), these representations followed, more or less, the iconographic tradition of the Byzantine emperors already adopted by the Norman predecessors. However, there are also important variations. The position on the throne, the not very long hair, the short beard, the broad cloak and the *Bügelkrone* took the distance from the previous figurative royal patterns. Nevertheless, it remains doubtful if, in this way, the king wanted to express specific messages or if he simply seconded the skills of the craftsmen involved in their realisation.

**Funding:** This research received no external funding.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.

**Entry Link on the Encyclopaedia Platform:** https://encyclopedia.pub/12698.
