Palermo, Palazzo Reale, King Roger's Hall
In the center the so-called Swabian Eagle (House of Hohenstaufen)
King Roger's Hall - the formal chamber where Norman king Roger II would meet visiting dignitaries in the Palazzo dei Normanni, dating back to the 12th century.
The Ruggero Room contains exquisite mosaic decoration above a high marble plinth, dating from the regency of Guglielmo (William) I! (circa 1170). It covers the walls, lunettes, the undersides of the arches and the vault. Leopards, lions, harts, peacocks, centaurs and bowmen confront one another symmetrically amongst fruit trees and palms in the large lunettes. Spiral branches with leaves and flowers entwine the decorative elements of the vault, interrupted only by geometric bands (at the crossing points) and the medallions with lions and griffins. The Swabian eagle, within an octagon at the centre of the vault, dominates the composition, while the double-headed eagle appears on the keystones of the minor arches. The entire decorative structure is laid out on a single tessera background with gold leaf.
Thought to be the work of mosaicists trained in Byzantium, the iconographic themes of the mosaic cycle show clear eastern influence, more Persian and Seljuq than Arabic, as a result of the osmosis between the Islamic and Byzantine worlds.
Source: [islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;IS...]
Palermo, Palazzo Reale, King Roger's Hall
In the center the so-called Swabian Eagle (House of Hohenstaufen)
King Roger's Hall - the formal chamber where Norman king Roger II would meet visiting dignitaries in the Palazzo dei Normanni, dating back to the 12th century.
The Ruggero Room contains exquisite mosaic decoration above a high marble plinth, dating from the regency of Guglielmo (William) I! (circa 1170). It covers the walls, lunettes, the undersides of the arches and the vault. Leopards, lions, harts, peacocks, centaurs and bowmen confront one another symmetrically amongst fruit trees and palms in the large lunettes. Spiral branches with leaves and flowers entwine the decorative elements of the vault, interrupted only by geometric bands (at the crossing points) and the medallions with lions and griffins. The Swabian eagle, within an octagon at the centre of the vault, dominates the composition, while the double-headed eagle appears on the keystones of the minor arches. The entire decorative structure is laid out on a single tessera background with gold leaf.
Thought to be the work of mosaicists trained in Byzantium, the iconographic themes of the mosaic cycle show clear eastern influence, more Persian and Seljuq than Arabic, as a result of the osmosis between the Islamic and Byzantine worlds.
Source: [islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;IS...]