The Apse Mosaic at Cefalù Cathedral: Detail – Cherubim, Seraphim, and Archangels

12th century
Mosaic
Cathedral of the Transfiguration, Cefalù, Sicily

Above the Christ Pantocrator image is an assemblage of angels: two labeled seraphim, two labeled holy cherubim, and two archangels, unlabeled but identifiable by their halos and sceptres.

The representation of these angels is somewhat confused. Sceptres, which are the attributes of archangels, are in the hands of all the other figures. The eyes that cover the cherubim, as is not uncommon in Christian art, are also shown on the seraphim. In Ezekiel 1 and in the art, a cherub has four wings and the faces of four creatures (man, lion, ox, eagle); these cherubim have six wings (as the seraphim do in Isaiah 6), and we see only the man face.

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View the entire apse.
Read more about the orders of angels.

Photographed at the cathedral by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.