Monreale Cathedral: Interior Mosaics (Monreale, Sicily, Italy) : Central (nave) mosaics, Noah takes the animals on the Ark

Creator:

unknown (Norman)

Published/Created:

Monreale, Sicily, Italy
1174-1189

Date Depicted:

ca. 1990's
500 AD - 1499 AD

Materials:

glass
Gold
granite
marble
mosaic
stone

Notes:

The scheme of mosaics begins in the nave with the Creation and subsequent Old Testament scenes, progresses to the Life of Christ in the crossing, transepts and nave aisles, and culminates in the apse with a hieratic array consisting of Christ Pantokrator with his heavenly court. The programme imitates many features of the mosaic decoration of the Cappella Palatina in Palermo, but it is more expansive; and in the absence of a cupola, the main apse and presbytery form the sole theological centre. Although the style of the mosaics is Byzantine, almost all the inscriptions are in Latin, not Greek, and the disposition of the scenes in unbroken friezes is contrary to Byzantine practice. At Monreale the walls are covered with images: the surfaces not containing the main scenes--piers, soffits and spandrels--bear prophets, saints and angels. The New Testament scenes form the largest surviving monumental New Testament cycle in either East or West.

Variant Titles:

Duomo di Monreale
Cattedrale di Monreale

Topics:

Architecture -- Italy -- 12th century -- (YVRC)

Period/Style:

Byzantine
Norman

Culture:

Norman

Accession Number:

1A3-N-S-MD-3-H4

Genre:

churches: cathedrals (AAT)
mosaics (AAT)

Format:

Image

Content Type:

Furnishings & Decorative Arts
Sculptures, Models, & Architecture

Rights:

Copyright Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc
The use of this image may be subject to the copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) or to site license or other rights management terms and conditions. The person using the image is liable for any infringement.

Access Restrictions:

Yale Community Only

Digital:

cycles or series; decorative arts; New Testament; Old Testament and Apocrypha; saints; Benedictines; Crusades; mosaics (visual works) mosaic visual works; mosaics (visual works)

Source Creator:

Gilchrist, Scott

Source Title:

Archivision Module Two

Source Created:

2878 Chamonix, Montreal QC
Archivision, Inc.
ca. 1990's

Source Note:

Purchase, Visual Resources Collection, May, 2011; photographer Scott Gilchrist

Yale Collection:

Visual Resources Collection

Digital Collection:

Visual Resources Collection

Local Record Number:

4152

OID:

10170298

PID:

digcoll:1824531