Islamic Art for Christian Patrons
The Painted Ceilings of Cappella Palatina (Palermo, Sicily), circa 1140
LectureTuesday, April 13, 7 PM Freer Gallery, Meyer Auditorium
Located within the Palazzo dei Normanni (Palace of the
Normans), the Cappella Palatina (Palatine Chapel) is the finest example of
Arab-Norman art in Palermo, Sicily. Built by Roger II in 1130 to 1140, the
chapel is decorated with exceptional mosaics and paintings of saints and
biblical stories as well as scenes of Arab and Norman court life.
The palace was originally built for the Arab emirs and
their harems in the ninth century on a site where Roman and Punic fortresses
once stood. Centuries later, the conquering Normans fully restored the palace
and added to its splendor. In the mid-sixteenth century, the abandoned palace
was again restored, this time by the ruling Spanish viceroys, and today it
serves as the seat of Sicily's government.
Dr. Jeremy Johns is professor of art and archaeology of
the Islamic Mediterranean and serves as the director of the Khalili Research Centre at the University of Oxford, England. He is a world expert on Norman
Sicily.
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Images (in order of appearance): Screen shot from "$9.99"; Screen Shot from "My Dear Enemy"; Tara, Central Tibet, second half of 17th century, Gilt copper allow., Pictured in the Tibetan Shrine from the, Alice S. Kandell Collection,Photography by Neil Greentree, Freer and Sackler Galleries.; Cherry Blossoms on the Tidal Basin, Photo © National Cherry Blossom Festival.
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