Mediaeval Sicily, aspects of life and art in the middle ages . lassicalmouldings : just the clear-cut elegant Romanesquethat might hail from anywhere—Central or SouthernFrance, the Rhineland, Lombardy or LombardApulia—except Normandy. A couple of the well-known Lombard grotesque beasties, used as brackets,point to Lombardy or Apulia. The pilasters andband of capitals have disappeared. The sculpture of the west front above the porch,instead, shows the bold vigorous forms that bear somuch analogy with certain forms of baroquesculpture, of belated Romanesque. The magnifi-cent wide-spanned window
Mediaeval Sicily, aspects of life and art in the middle ages . lassicalmouldings : just the clear-cut elegant Romanesquethat might hail from anywhere—Central or SouthernFrance, the Rhineland, Lombardy or LombardApulia—except Normandy. A couple of the well-known Lombard grotesque beasties, used as brackets,point to Lombardy or Apulia. The pilasters andband of capitals have disappeared. The sculpture of the west front above the porch,instead, shows the bold vigorous forms that bear somuch analogy with certain forms of baroquesculpture, of belated Romanesque. The magnifi-cent wide-spanned window is of the Apulian is noticeable that the fine faceted chevrons of theblind arcading are modelled on these of the east end,but the capitals of this arcading are evidently thework of the Giovanni Panittera of the inscription,and dating from 1240. * * The cloister of Cefalu is assuredly one of themost picturesque in existence, nestling below thecathedral, with its ill-kept, rose-scented Siciliangarden, on the north side. It has been vaguely186 XXVII. Ci-Kli. Taormina CAPITAL, CLOISTER, CEFALU 187 THE CATHEDRAL OF CEFALU instanced as leading up to the cloister of Monreale,^t a little careful study soon shows that it is oneor the medieval monuments that owe their presentappearance of age mainly to romantic decay andlocal lack of skill. It is a composite cloister,impossible to date with accuracy. Among theCorinthian derivatives there is one of the SanCataldo type {see PI. XXIH.) strayed there fromPalermo somehow, and also decadent forms ofthis same cap, showing the break-up of this finecreation of a moment ; there is one that evidentlyhails from Monreale, resembling a whole series ofcapitals at Monreale in the treatment of theacanthus, while another is a late variant of thetype I have called Sicilian. The figured capsand carved shafts are few and seemingly rudeenough in their decay to suggest infantile art;but really not (all except one) proving earlier intype, when caref
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Keywords: ., boo, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectart, bookyear1910
