1925 Isaac Sends Esau to Hunt, Monreale Cathedral Art Postcard

About This Vintage Postcard

The glittering Byzantine heritage of Sicily is captured in this art reproduction of a 12th-century mosaic from the Cathedral of Monreale. Titled "Isacco manda Esaù alla caccia e gli promette la benedizione" (Isaac sends Esau to hunt and promises him the blessing), the scene depicts the blind patriarch Isaac instructing his eldest son to hunt game so that he may receive the final blessing. The artwork is part of the world-famous cycle of gold-ground mosaics at the Basilica di Santa Maria Nuova, which remains one of the most significant examples of Norman-Byzantine art in the world. The postcard beautifully illustrates the stylized figures and rich ornamental borders characteristic of the XII-century Sicilian mosaic masters.

Details

Era: Divided Back (circa 1925–1935)
City: Monreale (near Palermo)
State or Region: Sicily
Country: Italy
Topic: Monreale Cathedral Mosaics, Byzantine Art, Biblical Scenes, Isaac and Esau, Sicilian Heritage
Condition: Uncirculated
Postage: None
Address Side: divided back
Orientation: Horizontal (Landscape)
Artist / Photographer: Unknown (12th-century Mosaicists)
Publisher: Unknown (Part of a numbered Basilica series, No. 38)
Printer: Unknown
Print Type: Lithograph (Color with gold metallic ink)