Arts and Crafts in the Middle Ages

J >> Julia De Wolf Addison >> Arts and Crafts in the Middle Ages

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Of the work of Canozio, a worker of about the same time, Matteo
Colaccio in 1486, writes, "In visiting these intarsiad figures I
was so much taken with the exquisiteness of the work that I could
not withold myself from praising the author to heaven!" He refers
thus ecstatically to the Stalls at St. Antonio at Padua, which
were inlaid by Canozio, assisted by other masters. For his work
in the Church of St. Domenico in Reggio, the contract called for
some curious observances: he was bound by this to buy material
for fifty lire, to work one third of the whole undertaking for
fifty lire, to earn another fifty lire for each succeeding third,
and then to give "forty-eight planks to the Lady," whatever that may
mean! Among the instruments mentioned are: "Two screw profiles: one
outliner: four one-handed little planes: rods for making cornices:
two large squares and one grafonetto: three chisels, one glued and
one all of iron: a pair of big pincers: two little axes: and a bench
to put the tarsia on." Pyrography has its birth in intarsia, where
singeing was sometimes employed as a shading in realistic designs.

In the Study of the Palace at Urbino, there is mention of "arm
chairs encircling a table all mosaicked with tarsia, and carved
by Maestro Giacomo of Florence," a worker of considerable repute.
One of the first to adopt the use of ivory, pearl, and silver for
inlay was Andrea Massari of Siena. In this same way inlay of
tortoise-shell and brass was made,--the two layers were sawed out
together, and then counterchanged so as to give the pattern in
each material upon the other. Cabinets are often treated in this
way. Ivory and sandal-wood or ebony, too, have been sometimes thus
combined. In Spain cabinets were often made of a sort of mosaic of
ebony and silver; in 1574 a Prohibtion was issued against using
silver in this way, since it was becoming scarce.

In De Luna's "Diologos Familiarea," a Spanish work of 1669, the
following conversation is given: "How much has your worship paid
for this cabinet? It is worth more than forty ducats. What wood
is it made of? The red is of mahogany, from Habana, and the black
is made of ebony, and the white of ivory. You will find the
workmanship excellent." This proves that inlaid cabinets were
usual in Spain.

Ebony being expensive, it was sometimes simulated with stain. An
old fifteenth century recipe says: "Take boxwood and lay in oil
with sulphur for a night, then let it stew for an hour, and it
will become as black as coal." An old Italian book enjoins the
polishing of this imitation ebony as follows: "Is the wood to be
polished with burnt pumice stone? Rub the work carefully with canvas
and this powder, and then wash the piece with Dutch lime water so
that it may be more beautifully polished... then the rind of a
pomegranate must be steeped, and the wood smeared over with it,
and set to dry, but in the shade."

Inlay was often imitated; the elaborate marquetry cabinets in Sta.
Maria della Grazia in Milan which are proudly displayed are in
reality, according to Mr. Russell Sturgis, cleverly painted to
simulate the real inlaid wood. Mr. Hamilton Jackson says that these,
being by Luini, are intended to be known as paintings, but to imitate
intarsia.

Intarsia was made also among the monasteries. The Olivetans practised
this art extensively, and, much as some monasteries had scriptoria
for the production of books, so others had carpenter's shops and
studios where, according to Michele Caffi, they showed "great talent
for working in wood, succeeding to the heirship of the art of tarsia
in coloured woods, which they got from Tuscany." One of the more
important of the Olivetan Monasteries was St. Michele in Bosco, where
the noted worker in tarsia, Fra Raffaello da Brescia, made some
magnificent choir stalls. In 1521 these were finished, but they were
largely destroyed by the mob in the suppression of the convents in
the eighteenth century. In 1812 eighteen of the stalls were saved,
bought by the Marquis Malvezzi, and placed in St. Petronio. He tried
also to save the canopies, but these had been sold for firewood at
about twopence each!

The stalls of St. Domenico at Bologna are by Fra Damiano of Bergamo;
it is said of him that his woods were coloured so marvellously
that the art of tarsia was by him raised to the rank of that of
painting! He was a Dominican monk in Bologna most of his life.
When Charles V. visited the choir of St. Domenico, and saw these
stalls, he would not believe that the work was accomplished by
inlay, and actually cut a piece out with his sword by way of
investigation.

Castiglione the Courtier expresses himself with much admiration
of the work of Fra Damiano, "rather divine than human." Of the
technical perfection of the workmanship he adds: "Though these
works are executed with inlaid pieces, the eye cannot even by the
greatest exertion detect the joints.... I think, indeed, I am certain,
that it will be called the eighth wonder of the world." (Count
Castiglione did not perhaps realize what a wonderful world he lived
in!) But at any rate there is no objection to subscribing to his
eulogy: "All that I could say would be little enough of his rare and
singular virtue, and on the goodness of his religious and holy life."
Another frate who wrote about that time alluded to Fra Damiano as
"putting together woods with so much art that they appear as pictures
painted with the brush."

In Germany there was some interesting intarsia made by the Elfen
Brothers, of St. Michael's in Hildesheim, who produced beautiful
chancel furniture. Hans Stengel of Nueremberg, too, was renowned
in this art.

After the Renaissance marquetry ran riot in France, but that is
out of the province of our present study.

The art of mosaic making has changed very little during the centuries.
Nearly all the technical methods now used were known to the ancients.
In fact, this art is rather an elemental one, and any departure
from old established rules is liable to lead the worker into a
new craft; his art becomes that of the inlayer or the enameller
when he attempts to use larger pieces in cloissons, or to fuse
bits together by any process.

Mosaic is a natural outgrowth from other inlaying; when an elaborate
design had to be set up, quite too complicated to be treated in
tortuously-cut large pieces, the craftsman naturally decided to
render the whole work with small pieces, which demanded less accurate
shaping of each piece. Originally, undoubtedly, each bit of glass or
stone was laid in the soft plaster of wall or floor; but now a more
labour saving method has obtained; it is amusing to watch the modern
rest-cure. Instead of an artist working in square bits of glass to
carry out his design, throwing his interest and personality into the
work, a labourer sits leisurely before a large cartoon, on which he
glues pieces of mosaic the prescribed colour and size, mechanically
fitting them over the design until it is completely covered. Then
this sheet of paper, with the mosaic glued to it, is slapped on to
the plaster wall, having the stones next to the plaster, so that,
until it is dry, all that can be seen is the sheet of paper apparently
fixed on the wall. But lo! the grand transformation! The paper is
washed off, leaving in place the finished product--a very accurate
imitation of the picture on which the artist laboured, all in place in
the wall, every stone evenly set as if it had been polished--entirely
missing the charm of the irregular faceted effect of an old
mosaic--again mechanical facility kills the spirit of an art.

Much early mosaic, known as Cosmati Work, is inlaid into marble,
in geometric designs; twisted columns of this class of work may be
seen in profusion in Rome, and the facade of Orvieto is similarly
decorated. Our illustration will demonstrate the technical process
as well as a description.

The mosaic base of Edward the Confessor's shrine is inscribed to
the effect that it was wrought by Peter of Rome. It was a dignified
specimen of the best Cosmati. All the gold glass which once played
its part in the scheme of decoration has been picked out, and in
fact most of the pieces in the pattern are missing.

[Illustration: AMBO AT RAVELLO; SPECIMEN OF COSMATI MOSAIC]

The mosaic pavement in Westminster Abbey Presbytery is as fine
an example of Roman Cosmati mosaic as one can see north of the
Alps. An inscription, almost obliterated, is interpreted by Mr.
Lethaby as signifying, that in the year 1268 "Henry III. being
King, and Odericus the cementarius, Richard de Ware, Abbot, brought
the porphyry and divers jaspers and marbles of Thaso from Rome." In
another place a sort of enigma, drawn from an arbitrary combination
of animal forms and numbers, marks a chart for determining the end
of the world! There is also a beautiful mosaic tomb at Westminster,
inlaid with an interlacing pattern in a ground of marble, like the
work so usual in Rome, and in Palermo, and other Southern centres
of the art.

While the material used in mosaic wall decoration is sometimes a
natural product, like marble, porphyry, coral, or alabaster, the
picture is composed for the most part of artificially prepared
smalts--opaque glass of various colours, made in sheets and then
cut up into cubes. An infinite variety in gradations of colour
and texture is thus made possible.

The gold grounds which one sees in nearly all mosaics are constructed
in an interesting way. Each cube is composed of plain rather coarse
glass, of a greenish tinge, upon which is laid gold leaf. Over
this leaf is another film of glass, extremely thin, so that the
actual metal is isolated between two glasses, and is thus impervious
to such qualities in the air as would tarnish it or cause it to
deteriorate. To prevent an uninteresting evenness of surface on
which the sun's rays would glint in a trying manner, it was usual
to lay the gold cubes in a slightly irregular manner, so that
each facet, as it were, should reflect at a different angle,
and the texture, especially in the gold grounds, never became
monotonous. One does not realize the importance of this custom
until one sees a cheap modern mosaic laid absolutely flat, and then
it is evident how necessary this broken surface is to good effect.
Any one who has tried to analyze the reason for the superiority of
old French stained glass over any other, will be surprised, if
he goes close to the wall, under one of the marvellous windows
of Chartres, for instance, and looks up, to see that the whole
fabric is warped and bent at a thousand angles,--it is not only
the quality of the ancient glass, nor its colour, that gives this
unattainable expression to these windows, but the accidental warping
and wear of centuries have laid each bit of glass at a different
angle, so that the refraction of the light is quite different from
any possible reflection on the smooth surface of a modern window.

The dangers of a clear gold ground were, felt more fully by the
workers at Ravenna and Rome, than in Venice. Architectural schemes
were introduced to break up the surface: clouds and backgrounds,
fields of flowers, and trees, and such devices, were used to prevent
the monotony of the unbroken glint. But in Venice the decorators
were brave; their faith in their material was unbounded, and they
not only frankly laid gold in enormous masses on flat wall and
cupola, but they even moulded the edges and archivolts without
separate ribs or strips to relieve them; the gold is carried all
over the edges, which are rounded into curves to receive the mosaic,
so that the effect is that of the entire upper part of the church
having been _pressed_ into shape out of solid gold. The lights on
these rounded edges are incomparably rich.

It is equally important to vary the plain values of the colour,
and this was accomplished by means of dilution and contrast in
tints instead of by unevenness of surface, although in many of the
most satisfactory mosaics, both means have been employed. 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.

To follow briefly the history of mosaic as used in the Dark Ages,
the Middle Ages, and the period of the Renaissance, it is interesting
to note that by the fourth century mosaic was the principal decoration
in ecclesiastical buildings. Contantine employed this art very
extensively. Of his period, however, few examples remain. The most
notable is the little church of Sta. Constanza, the vaults of which
are ornamented in this way, with a fine running pattern of vines,
interspersed with figures on a small scale. The Libel Pontificalis
tells how Constantine built the Basilica of St. Agnese at the request
of his daughter, and also a baptistery in the same place, where
Constance was baptized, by Bishop Sylvester.

Among the most interesting early mosaics is the apse of the Church
of St. Pudentiana in Rome. Barbet de Jouy, who has written extensively
on this mosaic, considers it to be an eighth century achievement.
But a later archaeologist, M. Rossi, believes it to have been made
in the fourth century, in which theory he is upheld by M. Vitet. The
design is that of a company of saints gathered about the Throne on
which God the Father sits to pass judgment. In certain restorations
and alterations made in 1588 two of these figures were cut away, and
the lower halves of those remaining were also removed, so that the
figures are now only half length. The faces and figures are drawn
in a very striking manner, being realistic and full of graceful
action, very different from the mosaics of a later period, which
were dominated by Byzantine tradition.

In France were many specimens of the mosaics of the fifth century.
But literary descriptions are all that have survived of these works,
which might once have been seen at Nantes, Tours, and Clermont.

[Illustration: MOSAIC FROM RAVENNA; THEODORA AND HER SUITE, 16TH
CENTURY]

Ravenna is the shrine of the craft in the fifth and sixth centuries.
It is useless in so small a space to attempt to describe or do
justice to these incomparable walls, where gleam the marvellous
procession of white robed virgins, and where glitters the royal
cortege of Justinian and Theodora. The acme of the art was reached
when these mural decorations were planned and executed, and the
churches of Ravenna may be considered the central museum of the
world for a study of mosaic.

Among those who worked at Ravenna a few names have descended. These
craftsmen were, Cuserius, Paulus, Janus, Statius and Stephanus,
but their histories are vague. Theodoric also brought some mosaic
artists from Rome to work in Ravenna, which fact accounts for a
Latin influence discernible in these mosaics, which are in many
instances free from Byzantine stiffness. The details of the textiles
in the great mosaics of Justinian and Theodora are rarely beautiful.
The chlamys with which Justinian is garbed is covered with circular
interlaces with birds in them; on the border of the Empress's robe
are embroideries of the three Magi presenting their gifts; on one
of the robes of the attendants there is a pattern of ducks swimming,
while another is ornamented with leaves of a five-pointed form.

There is a mosaic in the Tomb of Galla Placida in Ravenna, representing
St. Lawrence, cheerfully approaching his gridiron, with the Cross
and an open book encumbering his hands, while in a convenient corner
stands a little piece of furniture resembling a meat-safe, containing
the Four Gospels. The saint is walking briskly, and is fully draped;
the gridiron is of the proportions of a cot bedstead, and has a raging
fire beneath it,--a gruesome suggestion of the martyrdom.

No finer examples of the art of the colourist in mosaic can be
seen than in the procession of Virgins at San Apollinaire Nuovo
in Ravenna. Cool, restrained, and satisfying, the composition has
all the elements of chromatic perfection. In the golden background
occasional dots of light and dark brown serve to deepen the tone
into a slightly bronze colour. The effect is especially scintillating
and rich, more like hammered gold than a flat sheet. The colours
in the trees are dark and light green, while the Virgins, in brown
robes, with white draperies over them, are relieved with little
touches of gold. The whole tone being thus green and russet, with
purplish lines about the halos, is an unusual colour-scheme, and
can hardly carry such conviction in a description as when it is
seen.

In the East, the Church of Sta. Sophia at Constantinople exhibited
the most magnificent specimens of this work; the building was
constructed under Constantine, by the architects Anthemius and
Isidore, and the entire interior, walls and dome included, was covered
by mosaic pictures.

Among important works of the seventh century is the apse of St.
Agnese, in Rome. Honorius decorated the church, about 630, and it
is one of the most effective mosaics in Rome. At St. John Lateran,
also, Pope John IV. caused a splendid work to be carried out,
which has been reported as being as "brilliant as the sacred waters."

In the eighth century a magnificent achievement was accomplished
in the monastery of Centula, in Picardie, but all traces of this
have been lost, for the convent was burnt in 1131. The eighth was
not an active century for the arts, for in 726 Leo's edict was sent
forth, prohibiting all forms of image worship, and at a Council
at Constantinople in 754 it was decided that all iconographic
representation and all use of symbols (except in the Sacrament) were
blasphemous. Idolatrous monuments were destroyed, and the iconoclasts
continued their devastations until the death of Theophilus in 842.
Fortunately this wave of zeal was checked before the destruction of
the mosaics in Ravenna and Rome, but very few specimens survived
in France.

In the ninth century a great many important monuments were added,
and a majority of the mosaics which may still be seen, date from
that time: they are not first in quality, however, although they
are more numerous. After this, there was a period of inanition,
in this art as in all others, while the pseudo-prophets awaited
the ending of the world. After the year 1000 had passed, and the
astonished people found that they were still alive, and that the
world appeared as stable as formerly, interest began to revive,
and the new birth of art produced some significant examples in the
field of mosaic. There was some activity in Germany, for a time,
the versatile Bishop Bernward of Hildesheim adding this craft to
his numerous accomplishments, although it is probable that his
works resembled the graffiti and inlaid work rather than the
mosaics composed of cubes of smalt.

At the Monastery of Monte Cassino in the eleventh century was an
interesting personality,--the Abbe Didier, its Superior. About
1066 he brought workers from Constantinople, who decorated the apse
and walls of the basilica under his direction. At the same time,
he established a school at the monastery, and the young members
were instructed in the arts and crafts of mosaic and inlay, and
the illumination of books. Greek influence was thus carried into
Italy through Monte Cassino.

In the twelfth century the celebrated Suger of St. Denis decorated
one of the porches of his church with mosaic, in smalt, marbles,
and gold; animal and human forms were introduced in the ornament.
But this may not have been work actually executed on the spot,
for another narrator tells us that Suger brought home from Italy,
on one of his journeys, a mosaic, which was placed over the door
at St. Denis; as it is no longer in its position, it is not easy
to determine which account is correct.

The mosaics at St. Mark's in Venice were chiefly the work of two
centuries and a half. Greek artists were employed in the main,
bringing their own tesserae and marbles. In 1204 there was special
activity in this line, at the time when the Venetians took
Constantinople. After this, an establishment for making the smalts
and gold glass was set up at Murano, and Venice no longer imported
its material.

The old Cathedral at Torcello has one of the most perfect examples
of the twelfth century mosaic in the world. The entire west end of
the church is covered with a rich display of figures and Scriptural
scenes. A very lurid Hell is exhibited at the lower corner, in the
depths of which are seen stewing, several Saracens, with large
hoop earrings. Their faces are highly expressive of discomfort.
This mosaic is full of genuine feeling; one of the subjects is
Amphitrite riding a seahorse, among those who rise to the surface
when "the sea gives up its dead." The Redeemed are seen crowding
round Abraham, who holds one in his bosom; they are like an infant
class, and are dressed in uniform pinafores, intended to look like
little ecclesiastical vestments! The Dead who are being given up by
the Earth are being vomited forth by wild animals--this is original,
and I believe, almost the only occasion on which this form of literal
resurrection is represented.

In the thirteenth century a large number of mosaic artists appeared
in Florence, many of whose names and histories are available. In the
Baptistery, Andrea Tafi, who lived between 1213 and 1294, decorated the
cupola. With him were two assistants who are known by name--Apollonius
a Greek, which in part accounts for the stiff Byzantine figures in
this work, and another who has left his signature, "Jacobus Sancti
Francisci Frater"--evidently a monastic craftsman. Gaddo Gaddi
also assisted in this work, executing the Prophets which occur
under the windows, and professing to combine in his style "the
Greek manner and that of Cimabue." Apollonius taught Andrea Tafi
how to compose the smalt and to mix the cement, but this latter
was evidently unsuccessful, for in the next century the mosaic
detached itself and fell badly, when Agnolo Gaddi, the grandson
of Gaddo, was engaged to restore it. Tafi, Gaddi, and Jacobus were
considered as a promising firm, and they undertook other large works
in mosaic. They commenced the apse at Pisa, which was finished
in 1321 by Vicini, Cimabue designing the colossal figure of Christ
which thus dominates the cathedral.

Vasari says that Andrea Tafi was considered "an excellent, nay,
a divine artist" in his specialty. Andrea, himself more modest,
visited Venice, and deigned to take instruction from Greek mosaic
workers, who were employed at St. Mark's. One of them, Apollonius,
became attached to Tafi, and this is how he came to accompany him
to Florence. The work on the Baptistery was done actually _in situ_,
every cube being set directly in the plaster. The work is still
extant, and the technical and constructive features are perfect,
since their restoration. It is amusing to read Vasari's patronizing
account of Tafi; from the late Renaissance point of view, the mosaic
worker seemed to be a barbarous Goth at best: "The good fortune
of Andrea was really great," says Vasari, "to be born in an age
which, doing all things in the rudest manner, could value so highly
the works of an artist who really merited so little, not to say
nothing!"

Gaddo Gaddi was a painstaking worker in mosaic, executing some
works on a small scale entirely in eggshells of varying tints. In
the Baroncelli chapel in Florence is a painting by Taddeo Gaddi,
in which occur the portraits of his father, Gaddo Gaddi, and Andrea
Tafi.

About this time the delightful mosaic at St. Clemente, in Rome,
was executed. With its central cross and graceful vine decorations,
it stands out unique among the groups of saints and seraphs, of
angels and hierarchies, of most of the Roman apsidal ornaments. The
mosaic in the basilica of St. John Lateran is by Jacopo Torriti.
In the design there are two inconspicuous figures, intentionally
smaller than the others, of two monks on their knees, working,
with measure and compass. These represent Jacopo Torriti and his
co-worker, Camerino. One of them is inscribed (translated) "Jacopo
Torriti, painter, did this work," and the other, "Brother Jacopo
Camerino, companion of the master worker, commends himself to the
blessed John." The tools and implements used by mosaic artists are
represented in the hands of these two monks. Torriti was apparently
a greater man in some respects than his contemporaries. He based his
art rather on Roman than Greek tradition, and his works exhibit
less Byzantine formality than many mosaics of the period. On
the apse of Sta. Maria Maggiore there appears a signature, "Jacopo
Torriti made this work in mosaic." Gaddo Gaddi also added a composition
below the vault, about 1308.

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