The mosaics in Monreale Cathedral

Monreale Cathedral was built by William II of Hauteville and is the last church built by Norman royalty in Sicily. The Cathedral’s size and the richness of its decorations rival those of the Palatine Chapel of Palermo and the Cathedral of Cefalù. Built on a grand scale, Monreale Cathedral is the largest edifice decorated with Western medieval mosaics. The decorations combine Eastern and Western traditions: there is Byzantine influence in the sanctuary—which has had to be adapted to the basilical architecture—and scenes from the Old Testament in the naves, which follow a Roman tradition. Since there is no cupola, Christ the Pantocrator is represented in the cul-de-four over the apse, the celestial hierarchy[1] is represented in the arch that precedes the apse, and the Theotokos is located below the Almighty, surrounded by rows of solemn archangels[2]. The decoration in the naves comprises scenes from the Old Testament, following a tradition established in the first Christian basilicas of Rome, such as the Papal Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls and the Basilica of St Peter. In Monreale Cathedral, episodes from Genesis—from the creation of the world to Jacob’s battle with the angel[3]—are represented on two bands.

Historiography has traditionally portrayed the decorations in Monreale Cathedral as a ‘Byzantine solea’ combined with ‘Latin naves’[4]. However, the distinction isn’t so clear-cut, as there are images from Latin tradition within the ‘Byzantine’ decorations. Thus, the Christological cycle, which contains iconography of the twelve major liturgical feasts in Byzantine tradition (Dodekaorton[5]), is represented in the transept. However, the iconography is exaggerated and some of the scenes—such as the representation of the Pilgrims of Emmaus on four panels, which hadn’t previously been used in traditional Byzantine iconography—seem to have been inspired by Anglo-Norman culture. E. Kitzinger likens these images to the miniatures in the St Albans Psalter, an English masterpiece from the first half of the twelfth century, and refers to one of the sacred performances of a biblical play—the Peregrinus play—that was in fashion in the theatre at the time[6]. Moreover, the hagiography—comprising 174 saints—does indicate a desire to combine Eastern and Western elements. There’s a mixture of various effigies in one area of the cathedral: Doctors of the Greek and Latin Churches (John Chrysostom, Gregory of Naziance, Augustine, and Ambrose), thaumaturgical and Byzantine military saints (Pantaleon, Hermolaus, John, Cyrus, Demetrius, Theodore, and Mercury), saints from southern Italy (Germain of Capua, Savin of Canosa, and Catald of Taranto), Sicilian saints (Marcian of Syracuse, Agatha of Sicily, and Gerland of Agrigento), Anglo-Norman saints (Thomas Becket of Canterbury, Hilary of Poitiers, and Radegund), and even Germanic saints (Boniface, Severinus of Noricum, and Odilia of Alsace)[7]. The hagiographical choices reflect the main political orientations of the Norman king, William II: his fascination with Byzantium and his desire to compete with the basileus[8], his alliance with the Plantagenet kingdom and the German Empire[9], and his culture rooted in the local traditions of Mezzogiorno. Thus, the artwork in Monreale is not only rooted in the ‘heart of the Mediterranean’ but also in the ‘heart of medieval Europe’.

[2] The adaptation of traditional Byzantine iconography to Latin architecture is also found in the Cathedral of Cefalù.

[3] The same set of images is found in the naves of the Palatine Chapel, but the decorations in Monreale are exaggerated and certain scenes are divided in two.

[4] The titles in the various parts of the book by O. Demus speak for themselves: the edifice is variously described as ‘the tradition of centralised decoration’ and ‘the tradition of longitudinal decoration’. E. Kitzinger describes the chancel as being ‘fundamentally Byzantine’ and asserts that there’s a Roman influence in the general organization of the Genesis cycle.

[5] Annunciation, Nativity, Presentation at the Temple, Baptism, Transfiguration, Resurrection of Lazarus, Entry into Jerusalem, Crucifixion, Resurrection, Ascension, Pentecost, and Dormition.

[6] Theatre plays, and the resulting iconography, appeared in northern France and England and were certainly known in Norman Sicily at the end of twelfth century, see L’art religieux du XIIe France, by E. Mâle, Paris 1924, pp. 137–138; see also The Saint Albans Psalter, by O. Paecht, R. Dodwell, and F. Wormald, London 1960 (Studies of the Warburg Institute, 25), plates 39 and 40.

[7] Some saints have Latin characteristics par excellence: the tonsure, the cross, the tau, etc.

[8] See in particular the votive panels: the coronation of William II by Christ and the presentation of the model of the church to the Virgin.

[9] William II married Joan of England in 1177, the last daughter of Henry II Plantagenet. In 1184, Henri VI, Holy Roman Emperor, was betrothed to Constance of Sicily, the last heir to the Sicilian throne.