Uriel, meaning ‘light of God’ in Hebrew, is one of the four archangels in the mosaics of Cefalù. Patron of the arts and wisdom, he is often represented with a book or scroll in his hand. While there were seven or even nine angels worshipped in the early Christian centuries, the Catholic Church now remembers only three during liturgical celebrations: Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. Uriel disappeared following the remodelling of the worship during the Lateran Synod of 745, as he was declared by Pope Zacharias to be a demonic and angelic angel, therefore of a dangerous nature. This superstition was again confirmed at the Council of Aachen in 789. From this moment on, also due to the fact that he is not mentioned in the canonical texts but only in the apocryphal ones, the representation of Uriel partially disappeared even in the field of art. In Sicily, however, it continues to be present in the Norman churches. It can be found in Cefalù, among the four archangels surrounding the Christ Pantocrator in the dome of Santa Maria dell’Ammiraglio, also known as La Martorana. It can also be found among the eight richly dressed archangels, with the globus cruciger (the orb and cross) in their hands, that occupy a place next to the Pantocrator in the Palatine Chapel and finally in the magnificent mosaics of Monreale.
