COLLECTION NAME:
Archivision Base to Module 9
Record
Preferred Title:
Monreale Cathedral: Interior Mosaics
Image View:
Apse mosaic depicting Virgin and Child flanked by archangels
Creator:
unknown (Norman)
Location:
site: Monreale, Sicily, Italy
Date:
1174-1189 (creation)
Cultural Context:
Norman
Work Type 1:
mosaic (visual work)
Classification:
mosaics
Material:
stone; marble; granite; glass; gold; mosaic
Technique:
mosaic (process)
Relation Work:
part of Monreale Cathedral
Subjects:
cycles or series; decorative arts; New Testament; Old Testament and Apocrypha; saints; Benedictines; Crusades; mosaics (visual works); Angels; Mary, Blessed Virgin, Saint; mosaic
Description:
The scheme of mosaics begins in the nave with the Creation and subsequent Old Testament scenes, progresses to the Life of Christ in the crossing, transepts and nave aisles, and culminates in the apse with a hieratic array consisting of Christ Pantokrator with his heavenly court. The programme imitates many features of the mosaic decoration of the Cappella Palatina in Palermo, but it is more expansive; and in the absence of a cupola, the main apse and presbytery form the sole theological centre. Although the style of the mosaics is Byzantine, almost all the inscriptions are in Latin, not Greek, and the disposition of the scenes in unbroken friezes is contrary to Byzantine practice. At Monreale the walls are covered with images: the surfaces not containing the main scenes--piers, soffits and spandrels--bear prophets, saints and angels. The New Testament scenes form the largest surviving monumental New Testament cycle in either East or West. (Source: Grove Art Online; http://www.groveart.com/)
Image Description:
The main apse of Monreale is a variation on that of Cefalù Cathedral. The image of Christ Pantokrator fills the conch with an all-embracing gesture. Below, the Virgin sits enthroned with the Christ Child on her knees, flanked by archangels and Apostles, with a row of saints below. Both rows continue from the apse on to the presbytery walls: but whereas the Apostles turn towards the centre, the saints below are shown in strict frontality. The choice of saints, which includes the earliest surviving representation of St Thomas Becket, canonized in 1173, seems to reflect William II?s ecclesiastical policy.
Collection:
Archivision Addition Module Two
Identifier:
1A3-N-S-MD-3-C4
Rights:
© Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc.
Monreale Cathedral: Interior Mosaics
