Medieval History
A very dear friend of mine has moved to Sicily for a spell. The pictures she has been sharing are phenomenal. Since I can't join her, I thought it a good excuse to rummage through my knowledge of Norman art and architecture in Sicily...which I know a surprising amount about, because my medieval professor in graduate school has published on the topic, and taught us an entire seminar's worth of 12th century architecture...
Part of what I find most fascinating about 12th century Norman art and architecture in Sicily is the mixture of Norman Romanesque, native Italian materials, and Islamic influences...see where you can spot them in this smattering of art from that period:
Cloister, Monreale Cathedral: view from the southwest, showing sculpted capitals of north side, ca. 1175-118. Monreale, Sicily
Detail:
I tell my husband all the time that our dream home has to involve a cloister...he could model it after this one and I wouldn't complain :)!
Architectural plan of Monreale:
Look at that massive masonry and square bell towers....oh my Romanesque.
Some glorious mosaics from the interior:
And more mosaics. I love how the mosaics are playing the role in Romanesque that stained glass will play in the Gothic.
La Cubola, Norman, 12th century. Palermo, Sicily. Interior:
Palatine Chapel, Palermo. Mosaic program. cross-section looking north. Built under Roger II, the king who created a first centralized government in Norman Sicily, 1166-1189.
Palatine Chapel main nave. Muqarnas!
Palatine Chapel cupola, center pantocrator surrounded by archangels. A very Eastern looking pantocrator, wouldn't you say?
Palatine Chapel Int.: from nave looking east, the apse and sanctuary.
This is just glorious:
Palatine Chapel Main nave Genesis: Creation of heavenly bodies, day and night
Palatine Chapel S. chapel Transfiguration. I spy a mandorla and a chi rho....
Coronation Mantle of Holy Roman Emperors, depicting addorsed lions subduing a camel with a tree of life between them. Muslim artisans in the Royal Workshop of Palermo, c. 1133-34. Silk and gold embroidery, pearls, gemstones, cloisonné enamel on samite.
Here is a rare image of the Norman cathedral in Messina (12th century), before it was entirely rebuilt in 1919 due to an earthquake. This photograph was taken ca. 1865-1890. Photographer: Giorgio Sommer.
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Medieval History
Norman Architecture in Sicily
A very dear friend of mine has moved to Sicily for a spell. The pictures she has been sharing are phenomenal. Since I can't join her, I thought it a good excuse to rummage through my knowledge of Norman art and architecture in Sicily...which I know a surprising amount about, because my medieval professor in graduate school has published on the topic, and taught us an entire seminar's worth of 12th century architecture...
Part of what I find most fascinating about 12th century Norman art and architecture in Sicily is the mixture of Norman Romanesque, native Italian materials, and Islamic influences...see where you can spot them in this smattering of art from that period:
Detail:
Architectural plan of Monreale:
Some glorious mosaics from the interior:
This is just glorious:
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There are 21st century ideas in prospect for the 800 year old Leper Chapel in East Cambridge following a unique collaboration between Cambridge Past, Present and Future, and an Architecture student at the University of Cambridge. Often considered the...
- Goslar's Perfectly Preserved Medieval Town A Sight To Behold
The historic German Hanse city of Goslar accumulated great wealth in medieval times thanks to the silver mines in neighbouring Rammelsberg while it was also the location chosen by Emperor Heinrich II for court meetings and synods. The mines of Rammelsberg...
- More Medieval Mayhem!!
Greetings fellow medievalists! February is turning out to be busier than expected! Dr Eva Baboula has invited all interested medieval studies students to join her Medi 305 Workshop class for an informal lecture given by Dr Karla Mallette this Thursday,...
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Turkdean, Gloucestershire, originally uploaded by Vitrearum.I came across this fascinating oddity at Turkdean in the Gloucestershire Cotswolds. When the parisioners decided to rebuild they modest two cell Norman church sometime in the fifteenth century....
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William of Wykeham was born in Wykeham near Southampton in 1324, the son of a yeoman. For the twenty years of his career he served as a secular civil servant, entering the royal service, for a time he was secretary to the constable of Winchester Castle....