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The Labors of the Months and the Zodiac Signs in the

Cathedral of Otranto: An Iconographical Interpretation

of the Symbols of Labor and Time






Author(s)

Liana De Girolami Cheney

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DOI:10.17265/2328-2177/2016.11.004

SIEALE, University of Coruna, Spain

In 1163, Archbishop Gionata, Abbot of the Monastery of San Nicola of Casole in Puglia (Apulia), commissioned Pantaleone, a learned monk and artist from the monastery, to decorate the pavement of the cathedral of Otranto with mosaics. This Italian Romanesque cathedral was dedicated to Santa Maria Annunziata or Saint Mary of The Annunciation. In the interior, the floor design in the shape of a tree contains an elaborate biblical program. The encyclopedic narrative of the mosaic symbolically unveils the meaning of the Tree of Life. The iconography of the pavement’s program combines biblical and pagan narratives evolving from a natural realm into a heavenly realm. The natural realm begins at the church’s entrance with the symbolism of the earth-the roots of a tree-expanding through the nave and transept via the tree’s trunk and its branches, culminating in the apse, at the end of the church, with the foliage of the top of the tree. This natural realm meets with the heavenly realm in two ways: at the crossing of the church or at the sacrificial altar, and at the apse of the church. Before reaching the altar or holy area, between the natural realm and the heavenly realm, the zodiac signs with the labors of the months are depicted.

Tree of Life, labors of the months, zodiac signs, constellations, symbolism