220 METEOROLOGICAL DIARY, BY H. GOULD, late W. CARY, 181, STRAND. From June 24 to July 23, inclusive. Stock and Share Broker, 19, Change Alley, London, E.C. PRINTED BY MESSRS. JOHN HENRY AND JAMES PARKER. THE Gentleman's Magazine AND HISTORICAL REVIEW. MOSAICS a. THE art which is now generally known by the name of Mosaic, and which consists in forming pictures of small cubes in stone, or marble, or tile, or earthenware, or glass, of different colours ", has been called by various names, perhaps the most common of which is Tessellated Pavements; and this name is now, for the sake of distinction, confined to that coarser kind which was used for pavement only; and this distinction is convenient in practice, but it is not borne out by ancient writers, and it is in fact now almost impossible to explain or apply the different names which were probably applied to different varieties of the art; as, 'Opus musivum,' 'musaicum,' 'mosaicum,' 'mosibum,' 'museum;' 'opus tessellatum,' 'vermiculatum,' 'reticulatum,' 'albarium et sectile.' The mosaic art is one of the earliest known, and belongs quite to the infancy of civilization. The Chinese possess it with their other stationary arts from time immemorial; it was found among the primitive inhabitants of America, and in a more or less rude form among the earliest remains of nearly all nations. Some authors think it was invented by the Persians, and ground this on a passage in the Bible describing the palace of King Ahasuerus :-" Where were white, blue, and green hangings, fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of marble: the beds were of gold and silver, upon a pavement of red, and blue, and white, and black marble "." After them the Assyrians are supposed to have taught this art to the Egyptians and the Greeks, from whom it passed to the "Les Carrelages Emaillés. Par M. Emile Amé." (4to., Paris, 1859.) We are indebted to this work for several woodcuts, and an excellent summary of the subject of mosaics as well as of tile pavements, (see GENT. MAG., Feb. 1861, p. 119). We have also to express our obligations to M. De Caumont for the use of several woodcuts from the Bulletin Monumental, vol. xxv., and to the Abbé Crosnier for much valuable information contained in his essay on Ravenna in the same volume. b Respecting the materials of which mosaics and tessellated pavements were made see an excellent paper, by Professor Buckman, in the Archæological Journal, vol. vii. p. 347. Ciampini also has a chapter on the subject; see Vetera Monumenta, cap. xi. p. 84. (Folio, Roma, 1696.) Esther i. 6. Romans, who unquestionably used it with the greatest profusion, and carried it with them into all their provinces, including Gaul and Britain, as is abundantly proved by the innumerable examples which are found on the site of every Roman station or villa. The patterns of these have been published in so many works, that we should need a catalogue of several pages to enumerate them. Still we are not aware that any concise outline of the subject of mosaics is accessible to the ordinary English reader, and this want we shall endeavour to supply, more especially as regards wall pictures d At the fall of the Roman empire, this art, with all others, was in danger of being lost; but as the Christian Church rose in power, and importance, and wealth, this valuable art was revived with others, and for a considerable period was devoted chiefly to the decoration of churches. The Greek Church patronized it equally with the Roman; and during the persecution of the iconoclasts at Byzantium, the artists took refuge in Italy, where they were allowed to practise their art freely; but they had formed a dis tinct school of their own, and the Greek mosaics in Rome of the eleventh and twelfth centuries are readily distinguished from those of the Romans themselves, by the peculiar stiffness of the drawing, the costume, and a certain solemn effect, and frequently by Greek letters, or the names of the artists. But the Christians both of the East and the West had practised this art even before the time of Constantine. A remarkable example of this early period has been found in the small church of D'Jemilah, in Algeria, by the d Some fine mosaic pictures, found in the crypts and sepulchres of ancient Rome, are engraved by Bartholi. (Folio, Rome, 1738.) Some fine Roman mosaic pavements found in England are engraved in the Vetusta Monumenta, published by the Society of Antiquaries. |