The Martorana
Date:
1143
Location or Findspot (Modern-Day Country):
Italy
Description:
Santa Maria dell'Ammiraglio—St. Mary of the Admiral, better known by its eighteenth-century name, the Martorana—is a church in Palermo founded in 1143 by the Byzantine admiral George of Antioch (1081–1151). George, an Arab Christian, served as vizier to the Norman king Roger II (r. 1130–54); in addition to overseeing the kingdom's finances, he was Roger's ambassador to the Fatimids and commander of troops against the Muslims in North Africa. His title from 1130 to 1151 was emir of emirs, second only to the king. The lavishly decorated church rivals royal foundations in Palermo, and its tower (complete by 1184, used as a bell tower by the thirteenth century) made it stand out in the urban landscape.
The Martorana combines Byzantine and Islamicate architectural, decorative, and epigraphic features in ways that underscore the complexity of cultural contacts in the twelfth-century Mediterranean. The cross-in-square church was encircled on the exterior by a Greek dedicatory inscription that offers the church to the Virgin Mary. The windows were filled with stucco grilles bearing Arabic inscriptions that repeat the phrases "conspicuous good fortune, lasting power" and "to the owner" (these were mistakenly cast in reverse, making them illegible). There are Arabic inscriptions on two of the interior spolia columns. Around the base of the dome, on the interior, Orthodox liturgical texts are painted in Arabic on wooden boards, highlighting George's own Arab Christian identity. The patterned opus sectile floor is composed of porphyry spolia combined with newer materials. The wooden doors were produced by twelfth-century Norman craftsmen imitating Fatimid style.
The interior mosaics follow the usual middle Byzantine layout, with the Pantokrator surrounded by archangels in the dome, prophets in the drum above evangelists in the squinches, and major feast scenes in the vaults. In accordance with the church dedication, these scenes emphasize Mary's role in salvation: the Annunciation, Nativity, Presentation in the Temple, and Koimesis.
Two displaced mosaic panels, originally on the east wall of the narthex, depict Roger II being crowned by Christ and George of Antioch in proskynesis before Mary, petitioning her in Greek to intercede with Christ on George's behalf. The Virgin looks out at the mosaic's viewers, engaging them in George's ultimate salvation. He and his family were almost certainly buried nearby in the narthex.
The Martorana combines Byzantine and Islamicate architectural, decorative, and epigraphic features in ways that underscore the complexity of cultural contacts in the twelfth-century Mediterranean. The cross-in-square church was encircled on the exterior by a Greek dedicatory inscription that offers the church to the Virgin Mary. The windows were filled with stucco grilles bearing Arabic inscriptions that repeat the phrases "conspicuous good fortune, lasting power" and "to the owner" (these were mistakenly cast in reverse, making them illegible). There are Arabic inscriptions on two of the interior spolia columns. Around the base of the dome, on the interior, Orthodox liturgical texts are painted in Arabic on wooden boards, highlighting George's own Arab Christian identity. The patterned opus sectile floor is composed of porphyry spolia combined with newer materials. The wooden doors were produced by twelfth-century Norman craftsmen imitating Fatimid style.
The interior mosaics follow the usual middle Byzantine layout, with the Pantokrator surrounded by archangels in the dome, prophets in the drum above evangelists in the squinches, and major feast scenes in the vaults. In accordance with the church dedication, these scenes emphasize Mary's role in salvation: the Annunciation, Nativity, Presentation in the Temple, and Koimesis.
Two displaced mosaic panels, originally on the east wall of the narthex, depict Roger II being crowned by Christ and George of Antioch in proskynesis before Mary, petitioning her in Greek to intercede with Christ on George's behalf. The Virgin looks out at the mosaic's viewers, engaging them in George's ultimate salvation. He and his family were almost certainly buried nearby in the narthex.
Relevant Textbook Chapter(s):
7,
8
Image Credits:
Linda Safran
