Jonah Preaches in Nineveh

The mosaic tiles in this section depict a scene from the Old Testament. We are in Nineveh, the capital of Assyria.

Four male figures are gathered, sat in a circle: they appear to be discussing and debating, they are observing something out of range.

Maybe belonging to a broader scene, this section was completed in the mid-16th century by Corrado de Mochis from Cologne, a master glassmaker who was working on the site of the Duomo at that time.

De Mochis who was, in all probability, also the designer of the draft sketch of the work, depicted Jonah in an unconventional way: usually represented in the jaws of the whale or recognizable by his baldness, in this work he has the appearance of a man with a full beard, and his head covered by a hat.

The story of the prophet Jonah begins with a refusal: he is summoned by God to spread his word in hostile territory. However, Jonah flees on a ship, hit by a storm…

Rocked by the waves, a castaway, the prophet is swallowed by a whale, and for three days and three nights he is kept captive in the animal's belly. From that dark place comes the sound of a Psalm, and with the prayer, Jonah is saved by God.

Peculiar features in this work include some intriguing insertions, such as the head on the left for example, a clear 19th-century shape, in contrast to 16th-century mosaic tiles, ricognizable for their bright colors.

Even the wall at the shoulders of the figures has several improvements. The clean lines, which seem to be almost hand-drawn, tell us about subsequent modifications.

Jonah is recounted in the act of preaching to the Ninevites. In his eyes, is it possible to still make out the fear from escaping death at sea?

The episode is also recalled in the New Testament of Matthew, verse 12:40 "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."

In this section, the vibrancy of the colors, the extensive use of yellow silver, and the grisaille plaster are striking.