Name of Monument:

Painted wooden ceiling at Cefalù Cathedral

Location:

Cefalù, Italy

Date of Monument:

Between 1131 and 1154

Period / Dynasty:

Norman

Patron(s):

King Ruggero (Roger) II.

History:

The cathedral at Cefalù was founded in 1131 by Ruggero II with the intention of making it a royal mausoleum for members of the Altavilla dynasty. To this end he had two porphyry sarcophaguses built and transferred to the cathedral before it was finished. They were placed in the chancel in 1145 before being moved to Palermo Cathedral by Frederick II of Swabia in 1215.

Description:

The painted wooden boards of the ceiling in the cathedral at Cefalù show a series of lively, secular representations in courtly, naturalistic and imaginary settings, executed with great skill. Delicate pastel colours and masterly lighting have been used for the characters’ faces, and bolder black strokes to emphasise their outlines. The use of precious pigments, such as costly lapis lazuli, and of gold leaf (of which only microscopic fragments have survived) in the pictorial cycle is the obvious hallmark of a royal commission. The ceiling at Cefalù Cathedral includes iconographic themes and stylistic formulas extremely similar to the contemporaneous paintings on the ceiling of the Palatine Chapel but, unlike this latter, the paintings at Cefalù develop around a continuous band that is divided by medallions. The numerous images represented include animals, in particular the lion, the heraldic emblem of the patron’s family, the Altavilla. There are also ibis, peacocks, falcons, eagles, griffins, harts, antelopes, gazelles, elephants and camels. The eyes and marked expressions of the human figures in the cycle evoke knights, dreamers and drinkers. The paintings also include animal fights, hunting scenes and mythical creatures, such as the ‘merman’, half-man half-fish.
The style of the paintings reveals an obvious Egyptian influence, as demonstrated by the comparison drawn by Aurigemma (2004) with a fragment of the wooden frieze from the palace built by the second Fatimid caliph (AH 364–86 / AD 975–96) for his daughter in Cairo, subsequently transferred to the rooms of the new palace of the Mamluk Sultan Qalawun (AH 678–89 / AD 1279–90). Nonetheless, the paintings at Cefalù have a greater variety of figurative models and greater compositional independence: the pictorial cycle can be entirely attributed to craftsmen from the same cultural milieu as the Palatine Chapel, probably including some artists from Egypt, who nonetheless introduced different influences from all over the Mediterranean basin and from Byzantine visual culture in particular. The trading of extremely varied, precious and, in some cases, very old ivory, metal and ceramic objects between the Norman court and the Fatimid kingdom would have provided the artists working on both Sicilian ceilings with additional figurative ideas.
Like the paintings in the Palatine Chapel, these secular images in an ecclesiastical setting should be considered without resorting to symbolic–religious interpretations but rather as a celebration of the earthly pleasures enjoyed during the reign of Ruggero (Roger) II.

This pictorial cycle on the wooden boards of the ceiling can be attributed to craftsmen from the same cultural background as those who produced the Palatine Chapel. They probably included artists from Egypt, who brought a range of influences from throughout the Mediterranean basin, in particular Byzantine visual culture. The paintings can be understood to be a celebration of the earthly pleasures and joys enjoyed during the reign of Ruggero (Roger) II.

How Monument was dated:

From historical sources dating the foundation of the cathedral to 1131.

Selected bibliography:

Aurigemma, M. G., Il Cielo Stellato di Ruggero II: Il Soffitto Dipinto della Cattedrale di Cefalù, Milan, 2004.
Siculo-Norman Art: Islamic Culture in Medieval Sicily, pp.249–53.

Citation of this web page:

Pier Paolo Racioppi "Painted wooden ceiling at Cefalù Cathedral" in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. 2024. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;ISL;it;Mon01;16;en

Prepared by: Pier Paolo RacioppiPier Paolo Racioppi

Laureato e specializzato in storia dell'arte presso l'Università di Roma “La Sapienza” sta conseguendo il dottorato di ricerca in Storia e conservazione dell'oggetto d'arte e d'architettura presso l'Università di Roma TRE. Ha svolto attività seminariali presso l'Istituto di Storia dell'Arte all'Università La Sapienza di Roma e attualmente è docente di storia dell'arte del Rinascimento presso la IES at Luiss (Roma).
Ha pubblicato diversi contributi sulla tutela artistica, il collezionismo e le accademie d'arte, ed ha collaborato al Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani dell'Enciclopedia Treccani.
Translation by: Laurence Nunny
Translation copyedited by: Monica Allen

MWNF Working Number: IT 16