Tag: Palazzo dei Normanni
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52 Reasons to Love Sicily | #3. Palermo Goes To 11
Then there are ancient sites next to psychodelic baroque (Chiesa di Santa Caterina and Casa Professa, to name just two mind-blowing experiences!) next to Arab-Norman style architecture, next to Liberty Style… Oh, and royal palaces! Check out these mosaic-tiled lions (pictured) in the chambers of Roger II from the 12th century. And don’t forget Castello…
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The Lions Of Palermo’s Royal Palace
The mosaics from the chambers of Roger II (Sala di Re Rogero) in the Royal Palace in Palermo are a spectacular example of Arab Norman secular design. They date to the mid 12th century, the same period that the Cappella Palatina was constructed.
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A Journey In Sicily To Discover Your Vision
“The Cyclopean Walls of Mount Erice” is a painting housed in the Palazzo dei Normanni (Royal Palace) in Palermo by painter Michele Cortegiani (1857-1919), (Oil on canvas, c. 1890). Monte Cofano pictured in the background is a magnificent limestone monolith on the Tyrrhenian coast that you’ll see with this same view when on Mount Erice,…
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Sending You Harmony And Joy
May harmony and joy greet you! Buon Natale! Merry Christmas! Ti mando armonia e gioia!
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The Palm for Paradise
These images, found in Palermo’s Palatine Chapel (and importantly, also at the Cathedral of Monreale) depict palm trees. Palm trees are symbolic of different things: In Christianity, palm branches are attributed to the “victory of the spirit over the flesh” (Wikipedia); hence why many martyrs are depicted holding palm branches. We also need to consider…
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Star Mosaic
Detail of mosaic decoration in a Byzantine-Arab-Norman style at the Cappella Palatina, in the Palazzo dei Normanni in Palermo; Created by artisans in the late 1100s.
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Santa Rosalia Purifies the Evils
“Il festivo,” which takes place on the evening of July 14, is a big street party that unifies Palermo’s citizens through a procession that symbolically purifies the city from the evils that have long afflicted it. For this annual celebration, each year Palermo commissions a new statue to represent its patron saint, Santa Rosalia. Like…
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Arab-Norman Design: Give Credit Where Credit is Due
Feeling somewhat like a miniature of a basilica 3 or 4 times as large as it is, the 32 meter long Cappella Palatina inside Palermo’s Royal Palace (Palazzo dei Normanni) is, simply put, spectacular. As soon as you enter, you’ll become lost in the dozens of stories depicted by dizzying mosaic scenes. Constructed between 1132…
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Persia in Palermo
Illustrating the Persian-Middle Eastern influences on Arab-Norman architecture, the mosaic designs of the Sala di Re Ruggero (King Roger’s Salon) inside Palermo’s Royal Palace (Palazzo dei Normanni) are splendid. Unlike their siblings in the Cappella Palatina (just downstairs in the palace), these mosaic designs are secular in nature, depicting hunting and natural scenes featuring trees,…