The Palatine Chapel ( it, Cappella Palatina) is the royal chapel of the Norman Palace in Palermo,

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

. This building is a mixture of

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

and

Fatimid The Fatimid Caliphate was an Ismaili Shi'a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries AD. Spanning a large area of North Africa, it ranged from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the east. The Fatimids, a dyna ...

architectural styles, showing the tricultural state of Sicily during the 12th century after

Roger I Roger I may refer to: :''In chronological order'' * Roger I of Carcassonne (died 1012), Count of Carcassonne * Roger I of Tosny (), Norman noble * Roger I "de Berkeley" (died 1093), Norman noble, possibly the son of Roger I of Tosny - see Baron ...

and Robert Guiscard conquered the island. Also referred to as a ''Palace church'' or ''Palace chapel'', it was commissioned by Roger II of Sicily in 1132 to be built upon an older chapel (now the crypt) constructed around 1080. It took eight years to build, receiving a royal charter the same year, with the

mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

s being only partially finished by 1143. The sanctuary, dedicated to

Saint Peter ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire , death_date = Between AD 64–68 , death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire , parents = John (or Jonah; Jona) , occupat ...

, is reminiscent of a domed

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's Forum (Roman), forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building ...

. It has three

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an '' exedra''. ...

s, as is usual in Byzantine architecture, with six pointed arches (three on each side of the central nave) resting on recycled classical columns. The

muqarnas Muqarnas ( ar, مقرنص; fa, مقرنس), also known in Iranian architecture as Ahoopāy ( fa, آهوپای) and in Iberian architecture as Mocárabe, is a form of ornamented vaulting in Islamic architecture. It is the archetypal form of I ...

ceiling of the nave and the chapel's rectilinear form show the Fatimid influence in the building's construction

Mosaics

King - Dome interior - Capela Palatina - Palermo - Italy 2015

The

s of the Palatine Chapel are of unparalleled elegance as concerns elongated proportions and streaming draperies of figures. They are also noted for subtle modulations of colour and luminance. The oldest are probably those covering the ceiling, the drum, and the dome. The shimmering mosaics of the

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building wi ...

, presumably dating from the 1140s and attributed to Byzantine artists, with an illustrated scene, along the north wall, of St. John in the desert and a landscape of ''Agnus Dei''. Below this are five saints, the Greek fathers of the church, St. Gregory of Nissa, St. Gregory the Theologian, St. Basil, St. John Chrysostom and St. Nicholas. The three central figures, St. Gregory, St. Basil, and St. John Chrysostom, are the Three Great Orthodox Church Fathers referred to as the Three Hierarchs, which originated fifty years earlier. Every composition is set within an ornamental frame, not dissimilar to that used in contemporaneous mosaic

icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...

s. The rest of the mosaics, dated to the 1160s or the 1170s, are executed in a cruder manner and feature

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

(rather than Greek) inscriptions. Probably a work of local craftsmen, these pieces are more narrative and illustrative than transcendental. A few mosaics have a secular character and represent oriental

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' ...

and

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is ''funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as ''Biota (ecology ...

. This may be the only substantial passage of secular Byzantine mosaic extant today.

Muqarnas ceiling

The structure is influenced by Fatimid art style, with the nave ceiling taking from Fatimid art through the use of

. The nave is similar to Islamic reception halls with the presence of the muqarnas vaulted ceiling and arches along the colonnade. There is also an indication of

Kufic script Kufic script () is a style of Arabic script that gained prominence early on as a preferred script for Quran transcription and architectural decoration, and it has since become a reference and an archetype for a number of other Arabic scripts. It ...

in the Cappella Palatina, this however, is highly debated by scholars because the inscriptions were removed later. It is thought to be likely that these Kufic inscriptions were intended for the structure due to the presence of Kufic inscriptions in other structures built for or by King Roger II. The Cappella Palatina is also influenced by the Islamic style of having rectilinear patterns, uncommon to European art at the time. The hundreds of facets of the Muqarnas ceiling were painted, notably with many purely ornamental vegetal and

zoomorphic The word ''zoomorphism'' derives from the Greek ζωον (''zōon''), meaning "animal", and μορφη (''morphē''), meaning "shape" or "form". In the context of art, zoomorphism could describe art that imagines humans as non-human animals. It c ...

designs but also with scenes of daily life and many subjects that have not yet been explained. Stylistically influenced by Egyptian Fatimid Art, these paintings are innovative in their more spatially aware representation of personages and of animals. Most muqarnas are made out of stucco or stone but the muqarnas in the Cappella Palatina are molded and carved with wood. There are arch shaped panels as the main construction and hidden panels that help center wood cuts for the small vaults in the muqarnas. The muqarnas has 5 horizontal tiers that allow a smooth transition from the ceiling to the walls of the nave. The ceiling is supported by horizontal cavetto wood moldings that touch the upper part of the windows. There are 8 point stars on the ceiling of the nave that are created with an overlay of two squares at a 45-degree angle. The muqarnas ceiling was built most likely after the mosaics of the nave ordered by William I. Cappella Palatina (Palermo) 16 07 2019 70

Cappella Palatina (Palermo) 16 07 2019 70

Chapel

The chapel combines harmoniously a variety of styles: the

Norman architecture The term Norman architecture is used to categorise styles of Romanesque architecture developed by the Normans in the various lands under their dominion or influence in the 11th and 12th centuries. In particular the term is traditionally used f ...

and door decor, the Arabic arches and ceiling designs and script adorning the roof, the

dome and mosaics. For instance, clusters of four eight-pointed stars, typical for Muslim design, are arranged on the ceiling so as to form a Christian

cross A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a sa ...

. The Cappella Palatina is built along an east–west axis. On the west side resides the throne platform and on the east side is the sanctuary with the nave connecting these two sides, with domes over each side. Along the northern wall of the sanctuary is the royal balcony and the northern chapel, where the King would watch and listen to the liturgy on special feast days. Along the nave runs two rows of colonnades, with windows in between each colonnade. The chapel was decorated with gold, pearls, porphyry, silk and marble. The chapel has been considered a union of a Byzantine church sanctuary and a Western basilica nave. The sanctuary, is of an "Eastern" artistic nature, while the nave reflects "Western" influences.

Nave

The nave, constructed under Roger II, did not contain any Christian images. These were added later by Roger II's successors,

William I William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 10 ...

and William II. The nave's ceiling consists of Arab, Greek and Latin inscriptions. The frame for the royal throne sets against the west wall of the nave. There are six steps leading up to where the throne would be, along with two heraldic lions in two roundels upon the spandrels over the throne frame gable. Part of the nave of the Cappella Palatina The nave had different forms of decoration from the north and south to the east and west. Intricate lacing from the ceiling mold outline the arches of the nave in the north and South. These outlines are accompanied by oval medallions and cartouches. In the East and West, the decoration is similar to the muqarnas ceiling but is missing some molding for the borders of the ceiling.

Sanctuary

Christ Pantocrator - Capela Palatina - Palermo - Italy 2015

As an expression of Norman culture, St. Dionysius and St. Martin are represented in the sanctuary. Mosaics are of Byzantine culture in their composition and subjects. The apex of the dome consists of the Pantokrator, with rows of angels, prophets, evangelists and saints. The Byzantine motif ends abruptly with scenes from Christ's life along the south wall of the southern transept arm, while the north wall consists of warrior saints.

Analysis

Slobodan Ćurčić considers the ''Palatine Cappella'' a reflection of Middle Byzantine art. Illustrating architectural and artistic genius to juxtapose Sicily's "melting pot" culture. According to European historians, Roger II made the decision to make the throne room and chapel equal in the main part of the Cappella Palatina in order to send a message to the papacy and other rulers of Europe that he was going to stay in Sicily and there was nothing they could do about it. Cappella Palatina - sostre-2010-08-11

Notes

References

* Agnello, Fabrizio. “The Painted Ceiling Of The Nave Of The Cappella Palatina In Palermo: An Essay On Its Geometric And Constructive Features.” ''Muqarnas Online'', vol. 27, no. 1, 2011, pp. 407–447., doi:10.1163/22118993-90000170. * Booms, Dirk. “The Normans: The Conquest.” Sicily: Culture and Conquest: by Dirk Booms and Peter Higgs, New York, 2016, pp. 178–220. * Britt, Karen C. “Roger II of Sicily: Rex, Basileus, and Khalif? Identity, Politics and Propaganda in the Cappella Palatina.” ''Mediterranean Studies'', vol. 16, 2007, pp. 21 – 45. ''JSTOR'', https://www.jstor.org/stable/41167003 * * Grube, Ernst J., and Jeremy Johns. ''The Painted Ceilings of the Cappella Palatina''. Bruschettini Foundation for Islamic and Asian Art, 2005. * Johns, Jeremy. “Diversity by Design: The art of Norman Sicily is celebrated for its juxtaposition of Islamic, Byzantine, and Romanesque elements – a remarkable feat of cultural engineering that was a deliberate display of power by the island’s ruler.” ''Apollo Magazine Ltd.'', 2016, pp. 80 – 85. * Kitzinger, Ernst. “The Mosaics of the Cappella Palatina in Palermo: An Essay on the Choice and Arrangement of Subjects.” ''The Art Bulletin'', vol. 31, no. 4, 1949, pp. 269–292. ''JSTOR'', www.jstor.org/stable/3047256. * *