Multiculturalism in the Cappella Palatina in Palermo

The Cappella Palatina in Palermo, Sicily stands as a visual and historical jewel. Part of the Palace of the Norman kings, the Cappella Palatina was founded by Roger II in 1130, a year after his coronation. Sicily’s geographic location and political involvement during Roger II’s rein, allowed Sicily to become a island full of many different cultures. The building itself is a is the harmonic architectural hybrid of some of the most advanced civilizations of the time: Islamic, Byzantine and Norman.[1] In this essay, I will explore the roles and visual cues from each culture apparent within the nave ceiling, muqarnas framing, opus sectile flooring, mosaics and structure of the Cappella Palatina.

(Figure 1)

The ceiling of the nave of the Cappella Palatina (Figure 1) is a dizzying and fantastic pattern of stars and crosses which are not only made from a wood, but also brightly painted and covered in gold. The star-cross pattern forms the basis for a series of bosses that drop from the tips of the crosses in an almost weight defying fashion. (figure 2)

(Figure 2)

Surrounding the field of stars, is a complex stalactite structure, or muqarnas frame (figure 3) which carry the majority of the figurative painting on the ceiling, an aspect I will more closely analyze later.[2]

(Figure 3)

The visual richness is only heightened by the fact that the artists and masters who worked on the ceiling were employed from other countries. As a whole, the ceiling is admittedly difficult to interpret and analyze the construction, design, and iconography as it involves neither the western medieval nor the Byzantine traditions that form the basis of art and culture in Norman Sicily. However, isolating the building from its setting is impossible as it is still an integral part of it. Truly interpreting the context and complex background of its creation, one must look to pre-12th century Muslim word, Byzantium and the late classical and early medieval world. [3]

Most of the artists were most likely Arabs, renowned for their incredible skill and organization needed to execute the muqarnas elements. The closest possible source for these Islamic elements would have been North Africa and the painted ceiling is considered to be a work of “Islamic” art, created by imported Muslim artists, generally thought to have come from Fatimid Egypt, with which Sicily had close political and cultural ties. The ceiling represents the most extensive cycle of Islamic paintings and document of the Arabic world to contain human forms in a complete cycle of paintings of ceremonial character. [4] The lack of connection to Byzantine culture may have been Roger’s goal and instead to politically inspire homage to the Muslim population.[5] In the second half the 11th century, the Norman conquest of Sicily may have brought the island into the mainstream of European politics but was still involved in North African affairs. Roger II had to struggle against German and Byzantine aggression as well as the Fatimid’s successors in North Africa. Despite the Fatimid’s move to Egypt, Sicilian and Fatimid relations remained strong and the trade, of grain and other commodities, that followed suite only strengthened the relationship. [6]

The complex zone of muqarnas (figure 2-3) contain the principle cycle of over 750 paintings. At first glance, the images seem random - there is no focal point and no direction that is, the paintings do not direct the audience toward either side of the building. The images range from musicians and elephant riders to drinkers and eagles with human features – typical examples of Islamic art.[7] Under closer consideration, it may be that these paintings on the muqarnas, are princely iconography. The range of subjects suggests an international royal cluster which refer to the life related to Roger’s court and his pleasures and habits.[8]We know that his court does not just involve Sicilian court members because many details of the paintings reveal the identity of the individuals to be from Egypt or other North African cultures. The clothing shown on the ceiling muqarnas of the Palatina all falls in the same category of very loose-tunic like garments with wide sleeves seen in cultures in North Africa.

While the ceiling represents a different culture, the mosaics of the Cappella Palatina are in general of Byzantine style adopted by the west which flowered in Norman Sicily. The mosaics is seemingly one of the aspects of the Cappella Palatina that is entirely Byzantium however even then, there are minor differences between the mosaics and the iconography in the Palatina, more specifically, the sanctuary of the Palatina, than that of typical Byzantine mosaic art. By appearance, the mosaics do look Byzantine but close examination will show that the schemes and motifs have been subtly modified to serve as an expression of ideas that were coincidentally, outside the realm of Byzantine religions. The mosaics of the sanctuary can be split into three categories: the dome and drum, the three apses and the “transept” that is, the central square and its two lateral wings. The dome is given the Pantokrator – a normal theme for a principle theme of a Byzantine church. However, the dome at the Cappella Palatina, Jesus is surrounded by the four evangelists who are depicted on four squinches. (figure 5)

(Figure 5)

Comparatively, Byzantine Pantrokrator domes use pendentives rather than squinches as an architectural form to transfer from a dome to a square. In doing so, the evangelists, who would be on pendentives rather than squinches, would be underneath the drum rather than on the drum itself like that in Cappella Palantina. Th chief anomaly in the mosaics in the Cappella Palatine is the asymmetric distribution of the two wings of the of the transcept. Not only is there a lack of balance between the figures but the New Testament cycle seems to be weighted to one side. This is part of a pattern in the Cappella Palatina – certain cycles within Christ life are emphasized, the largest of which is the Flight into Egypt (figure 5). The artists not only included the personification of “Egypt” receiving Christ but has also developed a city gate which follows the actual architecture of the building. The scene not only fills almost the entire southern wall of the southern wing but also the adjoining western wall. This emphasis on Egypt is surely to underscore Sicily’s relationship with Egypt. [9]

The space itself is commonly divided into two areas: the holy eastern space (sanctuary, “transept”, choir and apses) and the secular space of the nave and aisles. Interestingly enough, the two separate areas also coincided with different stylistic and cultural difference: Byzantine phase for the choir and then a later Islamic phase for the nave and aisles.[10] One of the architectural features and helps define these spaces is the opus sectile, a technique in which various colored stones are cut in shapes and fitted together to form geometric designs, is an ancient paving technique favored by medieval Byzantium and Italy yet used widely in the Islamic world. However, the majority of the opus sectile work in the Cappella Palatina has strong Islamic motifs using this traditionally Byzantium technique. (figure 6).

(Figure 6)

Typically, opus sectile work for Byzantine tradition of more curved and has rounder ornamentation compared to the straight-lined ornamentation of Islamic tradition. Within the complexity that is already demanded of opus sectile work, the motif of the multi-pointed star and all its variations in the Capella Palatine is worth noting. Most frequently, the star manifests itself as an eight-pointed star with interweaving geometric lines. Historically and cultural the eight-pointed star has great significance within the Muslim community but the ties for these particular stars in the Capella Palatina are heavily of Islamic cultures due to the geometric interweaving with broken lines.[11] Addition to the eight pointed star is the use of interlacing of shapes and lines in micro and macro patterns. The patterns on the floor of the isles consist of interwoven ribbons to form those eight-pointed stars to form a quincunx function – a pattern that has a long standing tradition of Roman and Byzantine pavements. Geometric patterns are typical for Islamic culture and yet they are integrated into the opus sectile floor in a Byzantine tradition, resulting in the legitimation and cultural syncretism that was typical of Norman Palermo. [12]

The Cappella Palantina is a rare example and personification of multiculturalism. The muqarnas ceiling, created from wood and painted, is not only structurally that of Islamic art but also visually speaks to it. The paintings on the ceiling portrayed many festivities and the people involved in the royal palace of Roger II. Many individuals depicted had headdresses and clothing seen in Islamic and North African cultures which speaks to not only the multiculturalism of Palermo but of Roger’s court. The mosaics that line the walls of the building while are still very much of the Byzantine style, had some small but significant changes within its depiction and variation from typical Byzantine churches such as the emphasis on of the Flight into Egypt which reflected Sicily’s with Egypt and North African through the means of Byzantine art form. The opus sectile of the building was another example of expressing Islamic style through the physical Byzantine traditional art form. Opus sectile paving was very favored by the Byzantine world and not so much in the Islamic religion however the majority of the geometric eight pointed stars, its variations and interlacing ribbons, speak directly to Islamic motifs. The Cappella Palatina is a unique building that, while built on the grounds of one culture, incorporated virtually every culture surrounding it in everything from the ceiling to the floor.

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[1] Wurth, Reinhold. “Working Towards Cultural Exchange.” In The Cappella Palatina in Palermo, edited by K. Merryl Zepf, 471. Hemsbach: Swiridoff, 2011. [2] Brenk, Beat. “Rhetoric, Aspiration and Function of the Cappella Palatina in Palermo.” In The Cappella Palatina in Palermo, edited by K. Merryl Zepf, 592-603. Hemsbach: Swiridoff, 2011. [3] Grube, Ernst J. “The Painted Ceilings of the Cappella Palatina in Palermo and Their Relation to the Artistic Traditions of the Muslim World and the Middle Ages.” In The Painted Ceilings of the Cappella Palantina, edited by Ernest J. Grube and Eleanor Sims, 15-34. New York: Saffron Books, 2005. [4] Pastorello, Paolo and Carla Tomasi. “Conservation Measures and Aesthetic Presentation of the Cappella Palatina in Palermo.” In The Cappella Palatina in Palermo, edited by K. Merryl Zepf, 475-489. Hemsbach: Swiridoff, 2011. 476 [5] Grube, “The Painted Ceilings of the Cappella Palatina in Palermo and Their Relation to the Artistic Traditions of the Muslim World and the Middle Ages,” 16. [6] Britt, Karen C. “Roger II of Sicily: Rex, Basileus, and Khalif? Identity, Politics, and Propaganda in the Cappella Palatina.” Mediterranean Studies 16, (2007): 25 https://www.jstor.org/stable/41167003 [7] Knipp, David. “Almoravid Sources for the Wooden Ceiling in the Nave of the Cappella Palatina in Palermo.” In The Cappella Palatina in Palermo, edited by K. Merryl Zepf, 571-578. Hemsbach: Swiridoff, 2011: 752 [8] Anzelmo, Francesca Manuela. “Classification of the Decorated Garments and Headdresses in the Ceiling Paintings of the Cappella Palatina.” In The Cappella Palatina in Palermo, edited by K. Merryl Zepf, 499-506. Hemsbach: Swiridoff, 2011. [9] Kitzinger, “The Mosaics of the Cappella Palatina in Palermo: An Essay on the Choice and Arrangement of Subjects,” 256. [10] Bloom, M. Jonathan. “The Islamic Sources of the Cappella Palatina Pavement.” In The Cappella Palatina in Palermo, edited by K. Merryl Zepf, 551-559. Hemsbach: Swiridoff, 2011. [11] Longo, Ruggero. “the opus sectile Work of the Cappella Palatina in Palermo.” In The Cappella Palatina in Palermo, edited by K. Merryl Zepf, 491-498. Hemsbach: Swiridoff, 2011, 492 [12] Kitzinger, “The Mosaics of the Cappella Palatina in Palermo: An Essay on the Choice and Arrangement of Subjects,” 270.