Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 16.djvu/789

Rh MONREALE 759 preserved, and is one of the finest cloisters both for size and beauty of detail that now exists anywhere. It is about 170 feet square, with pointed arches covered with marble inlay, supported on pairs of columns in white marble, 216 Plan of the cathedral of Monreale, as built in the 12th century, omitting later additions. 1, 1. Stairs to towers, now altered. 2. Chapel under the south ambo. 3. Stairs to ambo. 4. Holy-water stoup. 5, 5. &quot;Pulpitum&quot; or choir-screen, now destroyed. 6, 6. Screens behind stalls, now destroyed. 7, 7. Stalls, now destroyed. 8. King s throne. 9. Archbishop s throne. 10, 10. Sanctuary screen. 11. High altar and baldacchino. 12. Altar in northern apse. 13. Altar in southern apse. 14. Altar at tomb of William I. 15. Archbishop s throne. 10, 16. Seats for clergy. 17. Door to great cloister. 18. Door to chapter house. 19. Door to sacristy. 20, 20. Doors to royal palace. 21. Bronze door by Harisanos. 22. Bronze door by Bouanuus. in all, which are sumptuously decorated either by rich sur face carving or by bands of patterns in gold, silver, and colours, made of glass tesserae, arranged either spirally or vertically from end to end of each shaft. The marble caps are each richly carved with figures and foliage executed with great skill and wonderful fertility of invention no two being alike. At one angle, a square pillared projection contains the marble fountain or monks lavatory, evidently the work of Moslem sculptors. The chief feature of the place the church like the main cloister, is fortunately well preserved. In plan it is a curious mixture of Eastern and Western arrangement (see fig.). The nave is like an Italian basilica, while the large triple-apsed choir is like one of the early three-apsed churches, of which so many examples still exist in Syria and other Eastern countries (see De Vogue, Syrie Cen- trale). It is, in fact, like two quite different churches put together endwise. The basilican nave is wide, with narrow aisles. Monolithic columns of Oriental granite (except one, which is of cipollino), evidently the spoils of older buildings, on each side support eight pointed arches much stilted. There is no tHforium, but a high clerestory with wide two-light windows, &amp;gt;vith simple tracery like those in the nave -aisles and throughout the church. The other half, Eastern in two senses, is both wider and higher than the nave. It also is divided into a central space with two aisles, each of the divisions ending at the east with an apse. The roofs throughout are of open woodwork very low in pitch, constructionally plain, but richly decorated with colour, now mostly restored. At the west end of the nave are two projecting towers, with narthex-entrance between them. A large open atrium, which once existed at the west, is now completely destroyed. The outside of the church is plain, except the aisle Avails and three eastern apses, which are decorated with intersecting pointed arches and other ornaments inlaid in marble. The outsides of the principal doorways and their pointed arches are magni ficently enriched with carving and inlay, a curious com bination of three styles Norman-French, Byzantine, and Arab. It is, however, the enormous extent (80,G30 square feet) and glittering splendour of the glass mosaics covering the interior, which make this church so marvellously splendid (see MOSAIC). With the exception of a high dado, itself very beautiful, made of marble slabs enriched with bands of mosaic, the whole interior surface of the walls, including soffits and jambs of all the arches, is covered with minute mosaic-pictures in brilliant colours on a gold ground. This gorgeous method of decoration takes the place of all purely architectural detail, such as mouldings and panelling. The mosaic covers even the edges of the arches and jambs, which are slightly rounded off, so as to allow them to be covered by the glass tesserae. This device gives apparent softness to all the edges, and greatly enhances the richness of effect produced by the gleaming gold grounds. The only carving inside is on the sculptured caps of the nave arcade, mostly Corinthian in style. The mosaic pictures are arranged in tiers, divided by horizontal and vertical bands of elaborate flowing mosaic ornament. In parts of the choir there are five of these tiers of subjects or single figures one above another. The half dome of the central apse has a colossal half-length figure of Christ, with a seated Virgin and Child below ; the other apses have full- length colossal figures of St Peter and St Paul. Inscrip tions on each picture explain the subject or saint repre sented ; these are in Latin, except some few which are in Greek. The subjects are partly from the Old Testa ment types of Christ and His scheme of redemption, with figures of those who prophesied and prepared for Hi.s coming. Towards the east are subjects from the New Testament, chiefly representing Christ s miracles and suffer ing, with apostles, evangelists, and other saints. The design, execution, and choice of subjects all appear to be of Byzantine origin, the subjects being selected from the Jfenoloffium drawn up by the emperor Basilius Porphyro- genitus in the 10th century. No other mosaics perhaps so closely resemble the Mon-