It
however forms the groundwork and is the main ingredient of all that
follows. The Saracenic work, which succeeds the Byzantine in date, found
a stronger foothold in the South, on the coast nearest Africa; and the
influence of the Normans appears in the North.
Every new race of masters in this frequent recurrence of conquest found
the island already occupied by a very numerous population of extremely
various origin. The newcomers could do no more than add their own forms
to those previously in use; the consequence being in every case a mixed
style, containing elements derived from every portion of the
inhabitants.
Palermo, being on the northern coast, has felt the Norman influence
strongly. Its architecture is principally Romanesque in form, with a
generous admixture of Byzantine and Saracenic motives in detail and
decoration. Exuberance of detail and wealth of color are the rule.
Under the Norman conquerors the Sicilians built as they were directed.
Their arts and their civilization were superior to those of their
masters, and the Normans were apparently willing to make use of this
superiority, and merely adapted the forms of decoration and methods of
construction which they found here in use to their own needs and
purposes. The polychromatic decoration of the buildings of this
neighborhood, such as the interiors of the Capella Palatina and the
cathedral at Monreale, ranks among the most successful, if it be not the
most successful, work of its class now in existence.
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