The Monreale Cathedral’s has a wooden roof that rests on the walls with windows and is characterised by two pitches, with strong horizontal beams, arranged transversally on richly decorated bracketed supports. Its shape is therefore reminiscent of a ship’s hull, the trunks of which are decorated and sculpted with golden friezes.
The entire ceiling is partly the result of the 19th century restoration which took place after the 1811 fire. At this juncture, in addition to the restoration, part of the original unfinished decorations were completed. However, the ceiling of the entire cathedral is inconsistent, with the care and richness of the decoration and polychromy becoming more pronounced in the area between the nave and the transept. The central part of the transept, in fact, is decorated with golden stalactite motifs, found in the Islamic world.
On the other hand, the ceilings of the aisles have a simpler layout since the pitches are made up of flat surfaces, divided into regular fields by the supporting beams and characterised by the alternation of flat boards and relief boards.
