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Lot Essay
On the basis of style and technique it can be determined that this highly enigmatic portrait of a male saint has its roots in the tradition of Siculo-Byzantine mosaicists from the second quarter of the 12th century. While the art of richly embellishing wall-space in an ecclesiastical context had flourished in previous generations, it can be argued that pictorial perfection was attained in Constantinople from the 10th century onwards. However, by a twist of fate, these techniques were taken to even greater heights in the 12th century when the Norman Kings in Sicily, who were in direct military conflict with the Byzantine emperors, emulated Byzantine church decoration with extensive cycles of mosaics. Three generations of these kings - Roger II (1095-1154), William I (1120-1166), and William II (1154-1189) - thereby saw the creations of the ethereal mosaics in Cefalù, Santa Maria dell' Ammiraglio (also called the Martorana), Monreale and in the Capella Palatina of the Palazzo Reale among others.
The lack of context and documentary evidence, as well as the fragmentary nature of the present head makes identifying its original location near impossible. However, through stylistic and compositional comparison it is possible to derive some basic understanding of its origins. Most Siculo-Byzantine mosaics, irrespective of their geographic location, are very closely related by virtue of the fact that the Byzantine craftsmen working on them would have almost certainly learned their crafts in only a handful of workshops in Constantinople. Distinguishing an individual craftsmen's work once in Sicily is therefore extremely difficult. However, some subtle differences can be discerned that hint at possible centres of production. For example, the frontal composition of the present head is closely comparable to the portrait roundels of apostles lining the insides of the rounded arches on either side of the Christ Pantocrator in the Capella Palatina. Each of these figures are similarly represented with either a thin red or blue halo and are mostly depicted with long, layered hair swept back behind the ears, almond shaped eyes, long thin noses and closely cropped beards. These features are equally seen in both Cefalù and in the Martorana but are somewhat different in the mosaics in Monreale, although this may be as a result of this cycle being completed around 30 years after the completion of these other examples.
Stylistically, the fragment offered here can also be compared to the heads in the three above-mentioned churches (that is, the Capella Palatina, Cefalù and the Martorana) in the way the hair is rendered with the same sparing use of black tesserae combined with layers of orange, brown, grey and beige to suggest large bunches of hair whereas in Monreale individual strands are defined with long sequences of black tesserae alternating with others in either brown or orange or beige. Furthermore, the present mosaic compares with these afore-mentioned churches in the way that the eyes of many of the figures are similarly narrow and almond-shaped and exude an almost sleepy look, whereas in Monreale the eyes are often more widely open with heavily pronounced lower lids. That said, common features between the cycles in all the above-mentioned locations and the head offered here are also visible. For example, the use of red tesserae to accentuate noses, eyebrows and ears, the asymmetrical cheekbones and the use of green and grey coloured tesserae to create a sense of three-dimensionality are common to all of them.
Despite the difficulty of distinguishing between individual mosaicists active in Sicily or, indeed, throughout the Byzantine Empire, the present head is of a subtly distinctive Norman Sicilian style, and a number of stylistic traits exist that seem to place the center of production for the present head in what is today Palermo, or possibly around Cefalù approximately 100km away.
The lack of context and documentary evidence, as well as the fragmentary nature of the present head makes identifying its original location near impossible. However, through stylistic and compositional comparison it is possible to derive some basic understanding of its origins. Most Siculo-Byzantine mosaics, irrespective of their geographic location, are very closely related by virtue of the fact that the Byzantine craftsmen working on them would have almost certainly learned their crafts in only a handful of workshops in Constantinople. Distinguishing an individual craftsmen's work once in Sicily is therefore extremely difficult. However, some subtle differences can be discerned that hint at possible centres of production. For example, the frontal composition of the present head is closely comparable to the portrait roundels of apostles lining the insides of the rounded arches on either side of the Christ Pantocrator in the Capella Palatina. Each of these figures are similarly represented with either a thin red or blue halo and are mostly depicted with long, layered hair swept back behind the ears, almond shaped eyes, long thin noses and closely cropped beards. These features are equally seen in both Cefalù and in the Martorana but are somewhat different in the mosaics in Monreale, although this may be as a result of this cycle being completed around 30 years after the completion of these other examples.
Stylistically, the fragment offered here can also be compared to the heads in the three above-mentioned churches (that is, the Capella Palatina, Cefalù and the Martorana) in the way the hair is rendered with the same sparing use of black tesserae combined with layers of orange, brown, grey and beige to suggest large bunches of hair whereas in Monreale individual strands are defined with long sequences of black tesserae alternating with others in either brown or orange or beige. Furthermore, the present mosaic compares with these afore-mentioned churches in the way that the eyes of many of the figures are similarly narrow and almond-shaped and exude an almost sleepy look, whereas in Monreale the eyes are often more widely open with heavily pronounced lower lids. That said, common features between the cycles in all the above-mentioned locations and the head offered here are also visible. For example, the use of red tesserae to accentuate noses, eyebrows and ears, the asymmetrical cheekbones and the use of green and grey coloured tesserae to create a sense of three-dimensionality are common to all of them.
Despite the difficulty of distinguishing between individual mosaicists active in Sicily or, indeed, throughout the Byzantine Empire, the present head is of a subtly distinctive Norman Sicilian style, and a number of stylistic traits exist that seem to place the center of production for the present head in what is today Palermo, or possibly around Cefalù approximately 100km away.