Cappella Palatina
In 1132 King Roger (d.1154) ordered
the chapel built in the centre of his Norman palace, dedicated to St Peter.
It is said to have been finished by 1140, but
the mosaics were still unfinished in 1143. Archbishop Romuald of
Salerno (1153-82), who would have visited the structure, stated:
King Roger... ordered a
beautiful palace to be built in Palermo in which was constructed a
chapel floored in astonishing stone which he had covered with a gilded
roof and endowed and beautified with various ornaments.
The original nave did
not contain any Christian images and these were later added by the 2 King Williams(1154-89).
One of the kings also installed the royal throne. This once
stood against the west wall of the
nave, but all that remains of this are the six steps up to it guarded
by the two Hauteville lions. King William I (d.1166) was actually
buried in the chapel and during his reign he had the place 'painted
with marvellous pictures, covered its walls with different sorts of
valuable marble and greatly enrich and ornamented it with gold and
silver vessels and precious vestments...'
Description
Architecturally the chapel epitomises the ecleptic mix of the Norman
state. It was
built at first floor level making the older chapel, said to be Norman,
into its crypt. In
layout the Palatine chapel is Byzantine with 3 apses, a domed
roof and mosaics, but it has 6 Arabic pointed arches resting on
classical columns and has Arab and Latin inscriptions in a Norman
layout. There are also clusters of 8 pointed stars, typical of
Muslim design, but these are arranged on the ceiling to form a
Christian cross. The nave roof is in an Iraqi muqarnas style and
consists of varied carvings from daily life to plant and animal designs
as well as Latin, Greek and Arab inscriptions. This would appear
to be the roof that so amazed Archbishop Romuald. The church is
generally considered to have a Byzantine sanctuary and a Norman
basilica
style nave, the perfect mix of east and west.
Perhaps the most famous feature of the chapel are its extensive
mosaics. These generally Byzantine in style, although some are
Arabic in influence, like the depiction of King Roger
(d.1154) on the muqarnas ceiling. The earliest mosaics are
thought to be the Christ Pantocrator in the dome, the sanctuary and
transepts and are generally attributed to Byzantine craftsmen.
Those of the nave are thought to date more to the 1160s or 1170s
as they are cruder and feature Latin rather than Greek inscriptions.
In 1190 the Royal Chapel was described as having a costly floor and
walls decorated on the lower levels with plates of precious marble.
The upper walls were coated with mosaics, some of gold and others
of different colours, telling stories
from the Old and New Testament. The uppermost level was adorned
with carvings and an amazing variety of sculpture, all shining with
gold.
Why not join me here and at other Sicilian
churches? Information on this and other tours can be found at
Scholarly
Sojourns.
Copyright©2019
Paul Martin Remfry