John Henry Middleton, Henry Stuart Jones and William Blake Richmond

“ Those Roman mosaics over the altars in St Peter’s, being copies of celebrated oil pictures, while they cannot be denied excellence as such and marvellous dexterity, reveal the worst possible taste, for they attempt to represent adequately, in cubes, touches of the brush which were spontaneous, fluid, thick and thin, and as sensitive and spontaneous as the finger pressure on the violin string, so accurate that the least deviation from absolute position produces discord. ”

“ The very first principles which go to make a fine picture are just those which should be avoided in mosaic—elaborate modelling, delicate transitions of light and shade and picturesque effects of dark and light, materialistic resemblance indeed. ”

“ The only tools required are clippers, for shaping the tesserae, and a pointed awl for pricking through the cartoon into the cement the outlines of the design. Although the process and tools are simple, it requires prolonged training of mind, hand, eye and fingers to enable a workman to create in mosaic a living representation as distinguished from a lifeless copy of the master craftsman’s design. ”

“ Some of the 5th-century mosaics at Ravenna are, in every way, as fine as those of the 12th, and it was not till the end of the 13th century that any important change in style took place. The mosaics of the 9th century are inferior in drawing and general treatment to those both of the earlier and later time, while in Italy at least this art was almost entirely extinct during the 10th and 11th centuries. Extreme splendour of colour and jewel-like brilliance combined with the most stately grandeur of form are the main characteristics of this sort of decoration. ”

“ Few countries are richer than England in remains of Roman mosaics; the great pavements of York, Woodchester, Cirencester, and many other places are as elaborate in design and as skilfully executed as any that now exist even in Rome itself. In whatever country these mosaics are found, their style and method of treatment are always much the same; the materials only of which the tesserae are made vary according to the stone or marble supplied by each country. In England, for instance, limestone or chalk often takes the place of the white marble so common in Italian and North African mosaics ”

“ Glass.—Although marble, mother of pearl, and other substances have been, and are still, occasionally used, the predominant material in ancient as well as modern mosaics is glass. When prepared with due regard to the continuing proportions of its ingredients, glass is impervious to the action of ordinary acids, and is practically indestructible. It can be made to assume almost every shade and tint of colour (see Glass) . There are many kinds of glass, but for mosaic work either a potash-lead or a soda-lime glass is usually employed. ”

“ The artist who designs for this material must set aside all the principles he has learned to estimate in paint, either of oil or tempera. As an instance of a painter, pre-eminently delicate in his colour and tone, failing as a mosaic designer we may quote Cimabue, whose beautiful designs in the cathedral at Pisa would have been far more effective had the artist painted them upon the wall with the medium in the requirements of which he was so great a master. The same criticism may apply to the mosaics in recent years set up on the West front of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence. ”

“ It is useless to illustrate the many similar mistakes that have been made. They were made in some of the earlier work in the choir of St Paul’s. The best example of mosaic on a small scale is in Ravenna, the tomb of Galla Placidia; the best upon a large scale is the great Christ at the east end of the cathedral at Monreale. These two works absolutely justify the means to the end. Interesting are the designs made by Sir Edward Burne-Jones for the mosaics for the American church in Rome, but the execution and colour are alike monotonous. ”

“ Green is best made with yellow and blue lines, the masses being separated by red lines, and the shadows of green should be red or blue: if red, they should be outlined with blue; if blue, with red. Red should be treated flatly, shaded with a deeper red, which should be of a warmer tone than the lights. Blue should be shaded with blue or red; and it is well to mix green tesserae with the blue in the lights, and again green tesserae with the blue or red shades to modify crudity. Pure white should be very sparingly used: it expands greatly at a distance. ”

“ Anyhow, this is quite certain, that all the fine Byzantine and 13th century mosaics, as well as wall paintings, were executed in situ and not away, as was the usual custom in England and elsewhere until recently.
Mr Harry Powell has permitted the writer to make use of some of his reflections upon the mosaicist’s art in the following notes. The mosaicist should not separate the artistic from the technical details of his craft. He must study not only the decorative effect, form, colour and spacing of his design, but the surface to be covered as well as the materials with which he builds. ”

“ It may be that the gold drapery is to appear greenish; when that is desirable the folds should be drawn in green outlined with red. All deep shades should be treated with red and hot browns. As gold expands so considerably, a larger interval should be left between the tesserae than between any other colour, even white. Each tessera should have a thin space of the ground colour round it. The tesserae should never be jammed: it is that which causes so many modern mosaics to look like oil-cloth or chromo-lithographs. ”

“ Modern Mosaic.—The art of mosaic for mural decoration has never been deeply implanted in the artistic sensibilities of the north of Europe, nor has it been employed much either in France, or Germany, or England. It ceased to be generally adopted in Italy when fresco, oil and tempera painting came into vogue. Gothic architecture is ill-suited to its robust claims as a decorative art ”

“ Another application of wood to mosaic work, called “intarsiatura,” was very common in Italy, especially in Tuscany and Lombardy, during the 15th and early 16th centuries. Its chief use was for the decoration of the stalls and lecterns in the church choirs. Very small bits of various coloured woods were used to produce geometrical patterns, while figure subjects, views of buildings with strong perspective effects, and even landscapes, were very skilfully produced by an inlay of larger pieces. Ambrogio Borgognone, Raphael, and other great painters, often drew the designs for this sort of work. ”

“ He then applies every tint separately, keeping each distinct, and above all minding that the local colours of all half-tints are different from the colour of all shadows. This done, he dips his brush in black and draws all the outlines, the thickness of which depends upon the distance which will intervene between his work and the spectator; in order that the black may not appear cold from a distance, he will add to one side of the line, a red line, thicker or thinner than the black, according to the effect he wishes to produce. ”

“ It is impossible to keep the flesh too simple. The local colour, i.e. a red orange, is the staple colour. Features should be drawn in strong red or burnt sienna, or a rich brown. The outlines of limbs or the contours of faces should be made first with a green line, a little darker than the local tints, then a red line darker still, then a black or brown line. White draperies are capable of being treated with endless variety. Their shadows may be green, red, blue, grey or yellow. ”

“ Unless the master has himself gone through the drudgery of laying the cubes he can be no teacher. He must be a craftsman as well as a designer, and must know by experience and practice in a very difficult craft what the material can do with ease and what it is not called upon to do by reason of its inherent limitations. If he has not so trained himself he is certain to pictorialize what he should conventionalize ”

“ The probability is that the custom of drawing the design upon the wall practised by the early frescanti was the survival of a method adopted by the mosaicists, just as their method repeated that of Roman and Greek wall-painters. Of course this direct method leads to a large style, a style harmonizing with environment, scale, &c.; the tendency is to draw large in a large building, to draw small in a small one. ”

“ The range of colour in the marble tesserae is very great, and is made use of with wonderful taste and skill: there are three or four different shades of red, and an equal number of yellows and greens, the last colour in all its tints being almost peculiar to this part of Africa, and one of the most pleasant and harmonious in almost any combination Deep black, browns and bluish-greys are also abundant. The mosaics from Carthage are no less excellent in design than in the richness and beauty of their materials. ”

“ The hollow and sharp-edged joints provide a key for the cement into which the cubes will be set, and they diminish the risk of sagging, a not uncommon event if the cement is not welded to the wall by being well pressed into the joints. ”

“ In almost all cases the figures are represented on a gold ground, and gold is freely used in the dresses and ornaments—rich jewels and embroidery being represented in gold, silver, sparkling reds, blues and other colours, so as to give the utmost splendour of effect to the figures and their drapery. ”

“ Christ, the Good Shepherd, is sometimes depicted as a beardless youth, seated among a circle of sheep—the treatment of the motive being obviously taken from Pagan representations of Orpheus playing to the beasts. ”

“ It is made partly of small marble tesserae forming the main lines of the pattern, and partly of large pieces used as a ground or matrix. It is generally designed in large flowing bands which interlace and enclose circles, often of one stone sliced from a column. ”