According to the original legend, around the year 1000, in the middle of the Moors’ domination in Sicily, in Palermo’s Arab district "Al Hàlisah" – which means the chosen one, today called Kalsa – lived, locked up at home, due to her father’s jealousy, a beautiful girl. Her only leisure was taking daily care of the plants on her balcony. One day, a beautiful young Moor soldier, who used to pass by that street, fell in love with her at first glance, to such an extent that he declared himself with great ardour. The young woman, struck by that face and body which seemed carved in ebony, believed she had found the long-awaited prince charming, loved him back with just as much passion.
The Moor, however, hadn’t mentioned that he had a wife and children waiting for him in the East, in that land to which he had to return as soon as possible. The girl, hearing this news, feeling cheated, taken by uncontrollable anger and a coldness that she did not suspect to possess, decided to take the path of revenge. Thus, on a night when the man had sunk into a full and satisfied sleep after love, she mortally struck him deciding that his face would remain by her side forever. To achieve that, without hesitation, she decapitated him, opened the skull and planted a basil sprout inside, creating a sort of vase. The choice to plant there the odorous plant of "Basilikòs", the grass of kings, was linked precisely to its aura of sacredness.
The man she had loved to the point of yielding herself and who had cheated her, would be hers forever, she would have had the chance to look at him, possess him and take care of him every day of her life. Moved by this thought, she laid his head on her balcony, watering it daily with her tears which made the aromatic seedling grow lushly. The neighbours – surrounded by that scent and looking with envy at that particular container in the shape of a Moor's Head – had earthenware vases made by local artisans which re-proposed the same features as the one lovingly guarded by the maid.
In 2014, designers Dolce & Gabbana used moorheads as the theme for their creations. Dolce & Gabbana's choice is a confirmation of how deeply united art and fashion are, how fashion can be a means to tell art and to revive – as in a fairy tale – the history of an incredible civilization like that of Sicily of ancient glory.
