Opus Sectile

Lombard sources bear witness to the remarkable richness of the decorations of the Palatine Chapel of Salerno: gold and marble shone in the Church of Arechis II. Archaeological excavations have unearthed fragments of what once were the floor and wall decoration: it is a polychrome marble pavement crafted using the technique of opus sectile and a wall covering of porphyry, glass and gold. The fragments found are placed in three glass cases behind the main altar: On the left is a composition of large and small squares in green porphyry, of isosceles triangles of palombino and diamond shapes in antique red. In the centre, the composition consists of four rectangles grouped around a small square of antique red. The rectangles, within which are recognized lozenges of lucullio, antique yellow or breach, are defined by laths of red and green porphyry. On the right is a very unique composition characterized by hexagonal tiles of palombino. In the centre of the hexagon are either a square of red or a circle of green porphyry, which are crowned by rounds of alternating red and green porphyry linked to the central element by thin engraved canals. In the display case right of the altar is, instead, part of the wall decoration that covered the apse, consisting of an alternation of glazed dices with gold leaf, red porphyry and green, framed by laths of red porphyry.