MOSAICS

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXIII, Issue 34, 24 August 1905, Page 6

MOSAICS

THE ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE ART

The use of mosaics in an artistic way is interestingly discussed in a recent issue of an American magazine. The Asiatics (says the writer) seem to have taught the Greeks and they in their turn transmitted their knowledge of this art to the Romans. At first mosaics were used as pavements, much the same as in the halls of many of the stately dwellings in America. The Romans made the art practically their own, and used it in such a way that improvements in mosaics corresponded with their advancement in civilization. With the introduction of Christianity a new impetus was given to the art, lor the Church then as now used all the arts to express the beauty and goodness of the religion of Jesus Christ. Mosaics were then elevated from, the floor to the walls, Itoi use a crude form of expressing a fact. As early as the last of the fourth century mjosaics were used for decorating the walls and ceilings of churches, and there exist to-day some fine productions of this period in the mural decorations in buildings in Europe. In the churches of Rome, Veaiice, Florence, and Pisa, there are mosaics of the fifth century which are excellent representations of the Blessed Virgin. The Byzantine mosaics, with the gold ground, may be seen in a number of the churches in the old Italian cities. In the Sta. Maria Maggiore, in Rome, and the San Vitali, in Ravenna, there are some of the finest mosaics in the world. Those used for decorating the church of St. Sophia, built aibout the middle of the sixth century, have never beeai excelled. When the church was taken by the Mohammedans, the Christian symbols and decorations were destroyed, but it is said there still remain, traces of one figure of the Blessed Virgin.

In St. Mark's, in Venice, tfrere are about 40,000 square feet of mosaics. The greater part of this decoration was done between the eleventh and the fourteenth centuries, but those of the sixteenth century were made after designs by Titian, Tintoretto, and other artists. As early as the twelfth century the artists of Italy gave considerable attention to'this art. They made the designs, and in many instances supervised carefully the whole decoration. To Giotto in particular, the world owes a debt for a mimlb'er of the famous existing mosaics. Ghirlandajo, also, is as well known for his mosaics and work in silver as for his oil paintings.

Tjhe tratiitdons of what is best in the "methods of work are preserved to-day in the mosaic workshops of the Vatican. There may be seen artists copying with* fqajreful attantyom to detail the fiam'ous paintings of the masters. The mosaic, although a mechanical art, is an art which requires for its proper egression the skill and taste of the master artist. The delicacy in color, the lights and shades, huesi and tints, must bte so arranged at first as to produce the desired effect, for no brush can remedy errors as in the case with an oil panting.

The Methods of Work in the Vatican have varied little in centuries. The design to be followed is usually a painting which stands on an easel. The artist is to work out with his 1 stone material every detail in form and color to his pattern. The smalti, or small cubes, or what appear to be glass or natural stones, have been prepared from clay or from a variety of minerals colored with different metallic oxides. When the cubes are vitrified they have the appearance of stone or glass or enamel. They are of different sizes, from about the head of a small pin to an inch square. The process of soaking them in the color ingredients and of baking them in ovens renders them more durable than china. The smalti are assorted according to size and color, and arranged convenient to the hand of the worker, much on the same principle as the arrangement of type for the compositor.

The slab or table on which the mosaic is to be made is of stone, generally Tibertine or Travertine stone. The frame for the picture is made usually of iron or some strong material. The bed into which the smalti or cubes are to be placed is composed of a paste or cement, which is used as the work progresses. The mosaic, or pasty cement, is made from calcined marble and Travertine stone powdered and then mixed with linseed -oil. Into this* paste are placed the smalti. The smalti manufactured at the Vatican are of the form of long slender rods, somewhat resembling wire of different degrees of thickness. They are cut into' lengths to suit the needs of the artist. To make

A Perfect Picture of many colors and shades of colors with large cubes is considered more of an art than to accomplish) the samu results with small pieces. Some of the mosaics in the Vatican, coipies of large pictures by Raphael, Domenichmo 1 , An'gjelo, and others', have occupied from twelve to twenty years in the making. Thousands of shades and tints have been used. It is said by competent critics that the workers on the mosaics in the Vatican must have been able to distinguish at least 30,000 different shades of colors.

In the Church of St. Paul the Apostle, outside of Rome, there ure a series of medallion portraits of the Popes dome in mosjaics. The eyes of Pope Linus are made of diamonds. Some of the Vatican treasures have several times been loaned for exhibit in America. In 1853, Pope Pius IX. loaned for the Crystal Palace Exhibition in New York a mosaic copy of the picture of ' St. John the Baptist 'by Gucrdno. This picture was \alued at $60,000. The same Pontiff sent valuable tapestries and oil paintings to the World's Fair held at Philadelphia.