Mosaic

“ We do not forget, however, that the art of mosaic, taking its rise beneath the sunny skies of Italy and Greece, and glittering even now on the walls and beneath the cloisters of the Byzantine churches of Italy and Sicily, and within the mosques and palaces of the East, accords rather with the genius of the South and the gorgeous taste of the East than with the less florid tone of more northern lands ”

“ At first you can see nothing; but as your eyes become accustomed to the darkness, colours begin to grow upon you out of the gloom. Some minutes must elapse before you realise that the floor, which at first you took to be of a deep-toned grey stone, is a mosaic composed of thousands of differently coloured marbles—that you are walking on precious marbles of peacock hues. Golden gleams above your head attract you to the domed ceiling, and, to your delight and amazement, you discover that it is formed entirely of gold mosaic. ”

“ The colour is so magnificent that one troubles oneself but little about the architecture, and thinks only of gazing upon the expanse of gold and deep richly-tinted mosaic all harmonized together into one glorious whole. The mosaics commence throughout the church at the level of the crown of the main arches dividing the nave from the aisles, and are continued up the remainder of the wall and into the domes ”

“ Indeed, the uniformity of indefinable shadow was almost oppressive, although I knew right well the scene that lay around me; for who that has once seen it can fail of seeing again with the mind's eye the marvellous mosaic as of white marble and precious jewels which covers the high upland stretches of the World's Roof, when the winter snow retreats reluctantly, as if loth to leave the carpeting of spring flowers which follow on its fleeing footsteps. ”

“ The lighting is admirably distributed, and the rich decoration of the marble slabs, the monolith columns, the elaborate carving of the capitals, the beautiful marble inlays of the spandrils above the arches, and the glimpse here and there of some of the mosaic, which shows through the stucco, give to this church an effect which is unparalleled by any other interior in the world. The narthex or entrance vestibule forms a magnificent hall 240 ft. ”

“ The traveller’s attention is particularly attracted by the gigantic gates of bronze.
I cannot adequately describe the splendour of the interior, nor have I seen any thing with which I could compare it.
The most beautiful mosaics, monuments, statues, carvings in bronze, gilded ornaments, in short every thing that art can produce, are here to be found in the highest perfection. Oil-paintings alone are excluded. Every thing here is in mosaic; even the cupola displays mosaic work instead of the usual fresco-paintings. Immense statues of white marble occupy the niches. ”

“ If we observe the surface of a fine Greek mosaic, such as that of Andrea Tafi in the Baptistery of Florence, or the few remains of unrestored mosaic in St Mark’s, Venice, or indeed other works scattered over Italy, we shall see that it is rough, not smooth; that the cubes are irregular in shape; that there is always a space of the ground colour left, red or white, and visible between each cube. In modern mosaic, with rare exceptions, restoration or other, the cubes have been jammed up closely together, and the surface is as smooth as a piece of paper ”

“ I opened the door, and found myself in a marvellous passage, along whose sides were many divinities wrought in a mosaic, not less beautiful than the mosaic in the Baptistery at Ravenna, but of a less severe beauty; the predominant colour of each divinity, which was surely a symbolic colour, being repeated in the lamps that hung from the ceiling, a curiously-scented lamp before every divinity. ”

“ MOSAICS.
The durability, range of colour, and appropriateness of material and treatment to architectural conditions, has placed the art of Mosaic as the chief decorative enrichment of architecture. Its antiquity is unquestionable, for in the Book of Esther, i, 6, we read “of a pavement of red, and blue, and white, and black marble.”
Mosaic is the art of forming patterns by means of pieces of variously-coloured materials, fitted together, and is broadly divided into three classes: (1) Opus Tesselatum, or clay mosaic; (2) Opus Lithostratum, or stone mosaic; (3) Opus Miserum, or glass mosaic. ”

“ Gradually the massive base, with its dark bas-reliefs, changes into lighter sculpture, with backgrounds of blue marble, then into figures of the saints, prophets, and patriarchs, breaking the uniformity of which are two long vertical pierced panels of quartre-foils in circles, serving to give light to the interior, but not telling as windows, then two rich bands of mosaic carry on the effect up to the first range of windows. ”

“ Vigorous as are some of the representations of landscapes and of animals among them, it is not to be denied that, as Semper says, mosaic oversteps its boundary in going beyond the patterns of woven tapestry, and trying to make us forget that it is outstretched like a level floor upon which we would walk without hindrance. ”

“ To be properly consequent and effective, buildings, ecclesiastical or public, should be constructed with the intention of being covered almost entirely by mosaics, which demand rich environment, marble or other colour; mosaic is essentially a colour medium. It is therefore scarcely surprising that when mural decoration became preeminently pictorial, and gestures and expression grew complicated, elaborate, and naturalistic, an art limited in its powers of presenting such manifestation of realistic design was relegated into the limbo of obscurity. ”

“ The mosaic shown in fig. 31 is notable for the simplicity of its composition; and it may be laid down as a general rule that the later workers in this field preferred such subjects, consisting of few figures on a neutral background, which lend themselves to broad treatment, and are best suited to the genius of mosaic. The finer pavements discovered in the villas of the landed proprietors of the African provinces, Gaul, and even Britain, are distinguished by the excellent taste with which ornament and subject are adapted to the space at the disposal of the artist. ”

“ We have spoken sufficiently above, in the sixth chapter on Architecture, of the nature of mosaic and how it is made, and, adding here just so much as really refers to pictures, let us say that very great mastery is needed to arrange the pieces so harmoniously that the mosaic appears at a distance a genuine and beautiful picture, seeing that this kind of work demands great experience and judgement and a profound knowledge of the art of design. ”

“ Every line in the complex designs of mosaic is the side or the curve of a polygon, a circle, or an ellipse; the eminently beautiful domes of wood and of stucco were suggested by the symmetrical productions of nature,—the hemispherical were modelled after the section of an orange, by which name they were known to the Arab; the stalactitic were striking adaptations of the pomegranate divested of its seeds. The arabesques are but reproductions of vines and tendrils combined in wonderful mazes of tracery ”

“ The artist who understands the force of shadows in the design and of giving few lights and many darks, leaving in these certain vacant spaces or fields, he above all others will make his mosaic beautiful and well arranged. Mosaic to be praised must have clearness in itself, with a certain harmonious obscurity towards the shadows, and must be executed far from the eye with the greatest discretion that it may be 252esteemed painting and not inlaid work. [244] Therefore the mosaics that have these qualities, are good and will be praised by everyone ”

“ Over the side entrance of Ara-Cœli is a beautiful mosaic of the Virgin and Child. This, with the ancient brick arches above, framing fragments of deep blue sky—and the worn steps below—forms a subject dear to Roman artists, and is often introduced as a background to groups of monks and peasants. The interior of the church is vast, solemn, and highly picturesque. ”

“ The pavements of all the houses are of mosaic, which, in the better sort, is very delicate and beautiful, and is found sometimes perfectly uninjured. An exquisite pattern, often repeated, is a ground of tiny cubes of white marble with dots of black dropped regularly into it. ”

“ 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 ”

“ It is not easy to make extracts from this charming book. It is a mosaic, to be read as a whole. A tile, no matter how beautiful it may be, can give no adequate conception of the mosaic of which it forms a part. ”

“ 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. ”

“ It is, therefore, to be considered as simply an art of mosaic on a large scale, the ground being of brick, or any other material; and when lovely stones are to be obtained, it is a manner which should be thoroughly understood, and often practised. ”

“ To the little we know of purely Roman painting something is added by that which we learn from the remains of the sister art of mosaic, which, being less easily destroyed, have survived in large numbers to the present day. It has been estimated by Gauckler that considerably more than 2000 mosaics with figure-subjects have been discovered; and the number is steadily increasing. For the origin of the art reference may be made to the article Mosaic, where the reader will also find an explanation of the essential differences of principle between the arts of painting and mosaic. ”

“ A great many threads go to make the piece of cloth, and a great many throws of the shuttle to weave the web. A great many bits of glass make up the mosaic pattern; and there is no reason for the red bit to pride itself on its fiery glow, or the grey bit to boast of its silvery coolness. They are all parts of the pattern, and as long as they keep their right places they complete the artist's design. ”

“ Some of these pavements have ornamental compositions of geometrical interlacings and conventional foliage, and others have hunting scenes in which animals, figures, and birds are treated flatly, after the Persian or Oriental manner of inlaid work or like textile designs.
In the thirteenth century towards the latter end, in the dawn of the Renaissance, design in mosaic began to feel the reviving influence in common with all Italian art. In the mosaics of this century executed at Rome we see something of the poetry and dignity which belonged to the great works of the fifth century. ”

“ And it is in truth a great pity that this most excellent art of working in mosaic, with its beauty and everlasting life, is not more in use than it is, and that, by the fault of the Princes who have the power, no attention is given to it. ”

“ Plain tints in mosaic can be relieved in a most delightful way by the introduction of little separate cubes of unrelated colour, and the artist who best understands this use of mass and dot is the best maker of mosaic. The actual craft of construction is similar everywhere, but the use of what we may regard as the pigment has possibilities similar to the colours of a painter. The manipulation being of necessity slow, it is more difficult to convey the idea of spontaneity in design than it is in a fresco painting. ”

“ As with glazed earthenware, the origin of mosaic must be looked for in the East. Greece, who had doubtless borrowed it from Egypt, communicated it to Rome at least two centuries before the Christian era, and from this time the Romans used it freely in the decoration of their [130] buildings. The Greek mosaic was composed exclusively of stone. The Romans modified this usage by the introduction of diminutive cubes of clay, painted and baked like porcelain; and later, in the reign of Claudius, dyed these cubes with various colours. ”

“ Above, in a broad strip, a frieze of angels blowing trumpets stand on the celestial sea on either hand of the Enthroned Majesty.
Such mosaics flowed out widely over the Christian world trom its art centres, as far east as Sanâ, the capital of Yemen, as far north as Kiev in Russia, and Aachen in Germany, and as far west as Paris, and continued in time for a thousand years without break in the tradition save by the iconoclastic dispute. The finest late example is the well-known “mosaic-church” (the Convent of the Saviour) at Constantinople, a work of the 14th century. ”

“ Just as from marble mosaics are derived those which we now call in our time glass mosaics, so from the mosaic of glass we have passed on to egg-shell 94mosaic, [147] and from this to the mosaic in which figures and groups in light and shade are formed entirely of tesserae, though the effect is like painting; this we shall describe in its own place in the chapters on that art. [148]
95 CHAPTER VII. How one is to recognize if a Building have good Proportions, and of what Members it should generally be composed. ”

“ 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. ”