大英博物館のインスタグラム(britishmuseum) - 5月4日 17時17分

Many Normans, Christian descendants of the Vikings, left France for southern Italy around AD 1000. Pilgrims and mercenaries soon became conquerors and rulers. The Norman mercenary Count Roger de Hauteville founded a dynasty that reigned over Sicily for a century and the island became a prosperous and influential Mediterranean superpower.
Under Roger’s son, Roger II, Sicily was characterised by an unusual, but fragile, religious tolerance. Jews, Muslims, Orthodox Greek Byzantines, Christian Normans and Italians lived together in one multi-ethnic kingdom. Roger welcomed scholars of all races and faiths to his court and a new art and architecture emerged from the mixture of influences.

At the heart of the king's Palermo palace was the Palatine Chapel (Cappella Palatina), the jewel in the crown of Roger’s architectural achievements. It combined a church with a hall for royal audiences, complete with platform and throne. Byzantine mosaic artists adapted their skills for western church architecture. Southern Italian artisans made the inlaid marble floor. Most impressive, however, was the ceiling created by Fatimid woodworkers and painters from North Africa. Star-and-cross patterns framed by ‘honeycomb’ vaulting, created a complex stalactite structure. Every inch was plastered and painted with Arabic inscriptions and scenes from Roger’s court, which was based on that of the Fatimids in Egypt.

Learn more about Norman Sicily and its unique art and architecture in our #SicilyExhibition, until 14 August 2016.

#Sicily #palatinechapel #architecture #ceiling

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