My favorite place in Palermo, if not in all of Sicily, is the Chapel of the Royal Palace in Palermo. There the golden 12th century mosaics adorn every square inch of the walls. Same subject matter as Monreale, that is, Biblical stuff, very high quality Byzantine-style, by my lights, but it's all in a chapel, well-lit, clean, and so close you can almost touch it. The analogy of Notre Dame de Paris and Saint-Chapelle comes to mind in thinking of Monreale and the Royal Chapel. We spent a good 90 minutes in the Royal Chapel savoring it all. I posted about
the royal chapel in 201l, but it deserves much more, especially so I can savor it all again, via the miracle of the internet, in my impending dotage. I just hope my nursing home has wifi and I have a computer. And a subscription to the internet. Also decent wine. And feather dancers.
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| Raising of Lazarus; apparently he didn't smell too good |
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| Stinky feet |
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| Peter |
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| Don't know who this guy is, but he's surrounded by feather dancers; heaven? |
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| Suggestive pose of feather dancers |
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| Pantokrator |
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| Betrayal; way before Giotto |
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| Just a bit of a wall |
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| Looking up to the stalactite ceiling (next post) |
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| J with P and P |
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| Knave view, Pantokrator |
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| Notice his digital sign is different from the others; what's he reading? |
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Personal favorite, still, after many different versions, P and P disputing with
Simon Magi before Nero |
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St. Senator?
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| Stalactite ceiling again |
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| Paul |
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| Peter |
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Simon Magi demonstrating how difficult it is to fly without
wings (or proper thrust); note devil enjoying this |
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Miscellaneous saints,, demi-gods
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| Cain bonking Abel |
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| P and P, just really good friends |
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| Building the Tower of Babel; note cement-mixing |
