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Italian art history begins in Rome during the first through the fourth centuries. The birth of Christian religious architecture based on Roman prototypes, was developed. Resident in Sicily were the Arabs who Paladino 2 introduced styles of oriental magnificence such as Palarmo's Palantine Chapel. According to John White in Art and Architecture in Italy 1250-1400, impressive central plans, lavish materials, sumptuous color, mysterious lighting, and stylized representation describe such works as Ravenna's San Vitale and St. Marks Basilica. The Italian Romanesque was concentrated in Lombardy, Tuscany, and Southern Italy. The Lombard architecture was known for large vaulted churches made of elaborate exterior brick. In Tuscany, Pisan architecture superimposed tiers of marble cascades as in the Pisa Cathedral. The Cefalu and Monerale Cathedrals in Sicily are representations of southern Italy architectures. French architects employed by the Normans, who had conque