The decorations of the Palatine Chapel divide the building into two parts: the Byzantine-style mosaics, especially those in the chancel, celebrate God through the triumphant Christ, depicted as the Pantocrator in the dome, central apse and St Paul’s apsidiole; the stylistic features of the flooring and the paintings on the wooden ceiling of the nave, glorifying the sovereign and court life, are Islamic. It would be a completely secular meaning, inserted into a cycle that tells the story of Salvation, like a biblia pauperum.
