PARKER'S MOSAIC PICTURES IN ROME.* STUDENTS of Christian antiquity will
find plenty of interesting matter in this volume of Mr. Parker's, which contains, he tells us in his preface, the substance of Cialdini's work on Mosaics.
The subject is not one of which he has made such a special and the present study as he has of Rome's other antiquities,
work is to a considerable extent made up of extracts from M. Vitet, from Crowe and Cavalcaselle, and we have, too, a good many remarks from Mr. St. John Tyrwhitt, whose name is very familiar to us in connection with early Christian art. We have, as in the preceding volumes, a number of photogravures, to show us the character of the mosaic wall-pictures, relics of which still adorn several of the churches in Rome. The art itself was of very early origin and was widely spread, but it was particularly liked and used by the Romans. According to Pliny, it was introduced in the time of Sulla, and it came, it spay be presumed, from the East, with which then Rome was -thoroughly in contact. Marcus Agrippa applied it to the decoration of his thermao. Seneca speaks of it as being quite the fashion of his day, so much so that a man would con- sider himself poor and sordid if his walls were not veneered with Alexandrian and Numidian marbles. It would seem that the Romans were very partial to sea pictures, and to representations of Tritons, Nereids, and dolphins. Some fine specimens have been discovered quite recently; one, excavated in 1869, re- presents the sun and moon, with day and night dancing before * Mosaic Pictures in Rome. By J. H. Parker, 0.13. Word ; Parker. London John Murray.
them, their arms tied together, and in the angles are the heads of the four seasons. The best known specimen of an antique mosaic is that in the Capitoline Museum, Pliny's doves, as it is called, found in Hadrian's villa at Tivoli, and so admirable that it may be fairly assumed to be the work of some Greek artist.
It is with Christian mosaics that this volume is almost wholly concerned. None of these appear to date from an earlier period than the fourth century, and only three edifices in Rome contain specimens of such pictures. One of these is the circular Church of St. Constantia, built, it is said, by the Emperor Constantine, as his daughter's sepulchral chapel. Mr. Parker shows us, in Plates 5 and 6, the mosaics which adorn the vaults of the aisle of this church. In this comparatively early period of Christian symbolism the vine plays a conspicuous part, and in this parti- cular mosaic, which is one of remarkable beauty, there are also birds and flowers and vases. We see from these early pictures how persistently the mind of the Church then dwelt on our Lord's parables about himself, as the Vine and as the Good Shepherd. This, indeed, would seem to have been their upper- most thought, and to its illustration they mainly directed their artistic efforts. Soon afterwards they dwelt on subjects drawn from the Old Testament, so that we feel that they regarded the history of Israel as typical and emblematic of Christ. There is a strange series of mosaics, belonging to the fifth century, in the Church of St. Maria Maggiore, which, as we see in Plates 7 and 8, represent Scripture scenes in Roman fashion, the figures retaining, as M. Vitet says, the Roman type and costume. The effect, however, is fairly good, and if there is some- thing of clumsiness and confusion, the scenes are at least rendered with considerable spirit. When we come to the sixth and seventh centuries, we note at once a decided development in Christian symbolism. Art has become more ambitious, and the most awful and tremendous subjects are attempted. We have representations of the visions of the Apocalypse. In the Church of SS. Cosmas and Damian, built by Pope Felix IV., A.D. 526-30, is a representation of Christ standing on the clouds, with St. Peter and St. Paul on his right hand and his left. These two apostles are in the act of, so to say, introducing St. Cosmas and St. Damian, each of whom holds in his hand his crown of martyrdom. The faces are not at all of the Roman or Pagan type; there would seem to have been an attempt to express austerity and asceticism. From this century, M. Vitet remarks, there began a new mode of representing the human face and figure, and the types and examples of antiquity were beginning to yield to some new influence. In the mosaics of this period it was common to represent the founder of the particular church with a model of it in his hand, and the figure of Christ bears a certain re- semblance to an Eastern monk. Pagan and Christian senti- ment appear to be confused together, with indications that the latter is gaining ground. The Church of St. Agnes, originally founded by Constantine, and rebuilt by Pope Honorius, A.D. 626-38, marks an advance in the honours paid to saints, St. Agnes herself, and not Christ, being the central figure. She wears a jewelled Greek costume, and holds a book in her clasped hands, and she stands in the midst of a starry firmament, in an attitude of prayer. Above her head, a hand in a cloud holds a jewelled crown.. The finest mosiac picture in Rome, in general estimation, is that in the Church of St. Pudentiana, which was possibly founded in the second century, but which we know to have been rebuilt by Pope Hadrian I., near the close of the eighth. The picture represents Christ and the Apostles ; it has a decidedly antique look, and there is quite a possibility that it may belong to the fourth century. Such, at any rate, is the opinion of the Roman school, who note that certain features in the symbolism imply an early date. It is
possible that the present picture may have been restored out of old materials. In Mr. Parker's opinion, there is strong evidence for referring it to the skilful band of some Byzantine artist, who took refuge in Rome from the iconoclastic onslaught of Leo the 'saurian, in the eighth century.
The various phases of Christian thought may be pretty dis- tinctly traced in these pictures. In them we see a development
of doctrines,—or a corruption of the faith, as some of us call it.
The subjects of the early pictures are generally simple, and deal with historical facts as recorded in Scripture, or with such emblems as the Vine and the Shepherd. The Church never could have wholly rejected art as a medium of instruction, and as a means of impressing people who were so familiar with its various forms. There was, no doubt, the danger of idolatry, but
it was a danger which might well seem worth risking, in view of the difficulty of conveying the new truths clearly and impres- sively to those who from their childhood had been surrounded with visible objects of worship. As we know well, the early Church strongly suspected art. But by degrees it felt driven to a 'compromise, and by the fourth century Christian art and sym- bolism had quite established themselves. It was some time 'before there was anything in them to suggest an approach to idolatry or creature-worship. It could hardly be contended that the mere representation of saints was likely to lead to such a result. But, as remarked by Mr. Tyrwhitt, the case was some- 'what altered, when the brilliantly-adorned and single figure of a saint stands in an attitude inviting special attention. It would seem to be waiting for adoration, and we can well understand that in many minds !here would arise a strong temptation to offer it. Something like saint-worship may be said to date from the seventh century. In St. Agnes, the fact that the saint occupies the central place may be taken to imply that a considerable step towards such worship had been made. There are, indeed, other pictures which would teach a truer view, as, for instance, the grand mosaic in the Church of St. Prassede, in which Christ holds his rightful place as Head of his Church, the noble army of Martyrs kneeling before him in white robes, with, as L. Tyrwhitt says, an ex- pression on their faces of an unspeakably earnest appeal, as suffering men, to the world to come. But in a church of the same date, the Church of St. Maria in Dominica, the Virgin occupies so prominent a place, that the thought at least of the
mediation might well enter the possibility of her efficacious
:popular mind. By the twelfth century matters had made a decided advance in that direction, at d in some mosaics in the Church of St. Maria, in Trastevere, the Virgin is seen on a richly decorated seat, with the infant Christ at her breast ; and again, in the vault of the apse, are the figures of Christ and of his Virgin mother on the same throne. Re holds a book in his left hand, with the inscription, "Veni, electa mea, et ponam in te thronum mown." The niosmes in this church, both as to design and execution, are pleasing and natural. Of the Madonnas, M. Vitet observes that the "pose of the figure is beautiful, the countenance of a sweetness quite Christian, and with almost the purity of features of an antique." Art was then recovering itself from the degradation into which it had sunk by the time of the ninth century. The mosaics in the church of St. Prassede of that period are really barbarous, and were 'evidently the work of artists who could merely copy, but who had no inventive genius.
In a number of cases these mosaic pictures have, as we should expect, been retouched and restored. This is a subject which presents an endless field for controversy. Though, to some extent, the pictures are on this account rather less trustworthy as historical evidence of the actual development of Christian art, still we are not hastily to assume that these retouchings and restorations were altogether capricious and arbitrary. And it is quite possible that there may have been no intention to deceive on the part of those who are responsible for them. That, on the whole, they are not the work of "dishonest hands, or done in a spirit of imposture," Mr. Tyrwhitt infers from the high 'probability that, had such been the case, many of the ancient retouchings would now have a very different ap- pearance from that which they present. As an instance, he notes the frescoes in the Catacomb of St. Pontianus, restored 'by Pope Nicolas IL, in the ninth ceatury, where it would seem that the old subjects have been faithfully and sympathetically followed by the artists to whom the work was entrusted. As a rule, it may be taken that the restorer adhered pretty closely to the ancient type, whatever it may have been, and did not aim at introducing the ideas and fashions of hie own age. Con- sidering the difficulty and obscurity of the subject, this is a view which can, it appears, be fairly sustained.
The altar-cloth, it should be generally understood, is a church ornament of great antiquity. Of this, Mr. Parker treats under the head of "Veils," vela being the term used in the early days of the Church to denote these hangings. Like most things, they 'came from the East, and have Eastern patterns on them, and, of course, were originally part and parcel of paganism. Rich Romans would adorn their houses with curtains and hangings of arras, and to these there are frequent allusions in the Latin poets of the so-called Silver Age. It seems that the basilica of Junius Bassus, a millionaire of the fourth century, was con- spicuous for these, among other decorations. The ornamenta- tion of the Christian vela was similar as to its -subject-matter to that of the frescoes and mosaics, and they were suspended. in pri- vate houses as well as in churches. By the fourth century they had become so fashionable and so very splendid and elaborate, that a certain Bishop of Amasia in Pontus thought it his duty to protest against this growing taste for art and luxury. Among the pictures commonly represented on them, he mentions the marriage in Cana of Galilee, the paralytic carrying the bed on his shoulders, the blind man cured with the clay, the woman touching the hem of Christ's garment, and Lazarus called to life from the tomb. It is a pity that none of these precious and sacred tex- tures have been preserved. They would have been particularly valuable to us, as a help in tracing the progress of Christian symbolism and the development of doctrine. Several of them were still in existence in the seventeenth century, so it appears from Ugonius, who wrote in that period, and who has described. them. It was common enough for the Popes to present them to the different churches, and records of such donations were preserved in the Pontifical Registers.
Many other points of interest in connection with the churches of Rome are noticed in Mr. Parker's volume, but we have not space to dwell upon them. He has been able to secure the aid of many very competent persons for his work, and as a result he has given us a book which, if rather faultily arranged, and open to the charge of some needless repetitions, will be welcome to all who care to follow the history of Christian art.
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