Messages in Mosaic: The Royal Programmes of Norman Sicily, 1130-1187

In this work, Eve Borsook--best known for her extensive work on fresco and mural painting--examines in detail the three great cycles of mosaic, focusing particularly on their arrangement and liturgical, even political significance. Produced within a sixty year span, the Norman royal mosaics form an unusually unanimous statement of the monarchy's view of itself, demonstrating the powerful way art, politics, theology, and ceremony merge.