Creation: Day 1

12th century
Mosaic
Palatine Chapel, Palermo, Sicily.

The inscriptions read counter-clockwise from the words at the left of the descending waters: in principio creavit [d]eus celum [e]t terram, "In the beginning God created heaven, and earth" (Genesis 1:1).

The dove and the waters are labeled spiritus dei ferebam super aquas. Ferebam is a grammatically impossible error for the Vulgate ferebatur, thus "the spirit of God moved over the waters" (Genesis 1:2).

At the top God (labeled DeuS) orders that there be light. The light is represented by the pointed rays outside the circle. The circle could represent the Heaven from which he speaks. Below the rays are the words fiat lux et facta est lux, "Be light made. And light was made" (Genesis 1:3).

As in all the panels of the Creation and Fall of Man, God is portrayed with an uncrossed halo and a face identical to Adam's.

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View other panels in the chapel's Creation sequence.
Read more about the Creation of the World.

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