“ The elaborate painted ceilings of the Baths of Titus, discovered in the Sixteenth Century, furnished the models for the arabesques and grotesques which Raphael made so popular in his Vatican Loggie, and which have been ever since in continual use. ”

“ Such are the domes of the Ravenna baptisteries, of Saint Mark's in Venice, and the churches of Salonica and Constantinople. It strikes a note of seriousness in contrast to the playfulness of Roman decoration. One important fact is that Byzantine ceiling decoration is never in relief—always an unbroken surface. ”