Ancient Art: All Mosaics Lead to Rome

By Gabriella Fiorucci Pascarelli
Special to the HERALD
(From the issue of 3/7/02)

Not many visitors to London are aware that they can visit the magnificent permanent exibition of the Gilbert Collection at Somerset House inaugurated in spring 2000. The collection consists of silverware, objets d’art, decorative pieces and mosaics, hundreds of them. They are real feast for the eyes. They belong to a specific production in time and style of the agelong art of mosaic making, the origin of which is traced in Babylonia as early as 2600 B.C.

Indeed, the span of time covered by this art is such that to follow its development from the beginning to the present day it would require much dedicated reading as well as field trips. It is possible though to get an overall view in broad lines, and most important of all come to know of places where all kinds of mosaics, both old and new, can be admired. A discerning traveller might indeed discover unheard-of jewels, patiently waiting to be wondered at by his modern eyes.

Going over the mosaics at the Gilbert Collection, the attentive visitor will notice that the majority of the works have to do with Rome. In fact, they were created by Italian artists working generation after generation at the dependence of the Pope and the Church. The pieces on display fall into the category of micromosaics, miniscule tesserae embedded in bonding materials, such as beewax, to create de genre scenes, classical subjects — like the much-copied Pliny’s doves, tripods, temples ruins and heads of gods. The works so produced were much sought after by the Grandtourists, not just for their undisputable beauty but for being easily transportable back to one’s home country due to their relative small size. Without offence, thinking of the quality and taste of the present day souvenirs mass tourists bring home, they too can be regarded as the souvenirs of the 18th 19th centuries … with a difference! However, some scholars see in the production of micromosaics the abasement of the original pure art of mosaic making that decorated the Imperial palaces and villas of the Roman elite and the public buildings of the past. That is still a matter of dispute among experts, but for the uninitiated traveller of today is there a place where it is most easy to follow the evolution of mosaic art from its origin, grounding, expansion, transformation, apparent debasement and neglect, renewed interest up to our present time? Yes, the right place for the art of mosaic is still Rome, the Eternal City.

In Rome mosaics were first used as a decorative art for floors and other architectural elements. Mosaic floors can of course be admired in Roman-British towns too, but they derive from those made by the Romans; they travelled, as it were, from the capital to the provinces, each time with understandable adaptation in places, by local artisans as to the content and representation of designs and patterns.

The Latin writer Pliny the Elder declared in his Historia Naturalis: "Mosaic is Roman art par excellence" and it could not have been otherwise, as in the beginning only rich patrons could afford to have their homes and villas decorated with this time-consuming art. Nevertheless, simpler but very effective black and white mosaic floors came to be rapidly spread all over the Empire: unique examples of this black and white style were made at Ostia, the imperial port of Rome, at the mouth of the river Tiber.

Today everyone can easily reach Ostia by the metro line to the Lido. An entire day should be dedicated to the visit for a full understanding of the site. Spring and summer are the seasons when Ostia is seen at its best: it escaped the destiny of other sites where several floors were removed from their original location. That happened in times when Italy was not yet politically unified and the countless treasures of antiquity were at the mercy of vandals, tomb diggers (aptly described as tombaroli in Roman jargon), unscrupolous antiquarians and so on.

Fortunately enough, many pieces are now well and safely guarded in the city museums. One not to be missed is the Borghese Gallery. In this historic place visitors can see in just one location different types of mosaics: Roman floors, portable micromosaics, mosaics as architectural decoration, the latter on the walls of the splendid ground floor central room. Another museum to appreciate ancient mosaics is the Museo Nazionale Romano at Villa Massimo, and then of course the Vatican Museums. The Pontifical Galleries house several mosaics saved from the villas of the Campagna Romana. Of special interest are the robust and well-built bodies of the athletes and wrestlers from the Caracalla Baths. As for St. Peter’s Basilica, every altar piece, side cupola, and even Michelangelo’s luminous central dome, are decorated in gleaming mosaic; each one is an unique work provided by the master mosaicists of the Vatican Studio.

Mosaic is often referred to as a luminous art. According to some this term was used for the first time by a medieval pilgrim as he stood in front of the Byzantine mosaics at Ravenna overwhelmed by their deep colour and texture. Light and colour are doubtless intertwined terms: light reveals colour and colour is trapped light, and this is only one way to express it in simple and plain language! But that is especially true in the Byzantine mosaic where the tesserae were cut from the glass pastes produced in the Venetian factories in hundred of colours. The Vatican’s own glass factory was later able to obtain many more nuances, amounting to an incredible palette of 28,000 hues.

There is no place like Rome, and this is no common place. In regard to mosaic art, the Church replaced the Imperial power when this moved to Constantinople. Then, when both religious and temporal leadership came to be unified in the person of the pope — the only remaining power to defend Rome from the barbarians — the new sponsorship allowed the building and decoration of places of cult that we are still able to admire in awe today. Admittedly the great papal legacy in the field of art has no rivals, and to be fair we must not forget that also a teaching aim co-existed with the artistic one, both of equal importance. The illustration of biblical stories, lives of saints or any other edifying subject conveyed the message better that any spoken or written word, and in times when books were rare commodities and only the few could either read or write.

It is therefore a must in Rome to visit churches if you want to know of mosaic art. From early paleochristian times to modern days, it is possible to follow a temporal sequence of this artistic development as if reading an open book. Here are some tips for those willing to embark upon this discovery trip in the city of Rome. One should first spot on the city map the churches, museums and archeological sites to be visited as to form zones or quarters. Qualified guidebooks should help in this zoning.

Ideally, it would be profitable to follow the mentioned temporal thread, but this is in practice difficult to achieve quickly due to the scattered distribution of the works in different parts of the city. There is a reward to your endeavor though. In fact, the joy of mosaic hunting is also enhanced by the discovery of other masterpieces in the same buildings where mosaics are present. As an example, when finding your way in the Church of St. Peter-in-the-Chains to admire a 7th-century Byzantine "St. Sebastian," suddenly you will realise that Michelangelo’s "Moses" is staring at you. Or in the Basilica of St. Clemente, steps away from the Colosseum, after admiring the "Thriumph of the Cross" in the apse, you could make time to descend into the lower levels of the church to a Roman mithraeum, house and subterranian brook hidden in the foundations.

Of special appeal to British and American visitors is the Anglican-Presbyterian church of St. Paul-within-the Walls where the mosaics after the cartoons of Sir Edward Burne-Jones, of pre-raphaelite fame, are located. Amidst the Christian warriors you will recognize the portraits of famous people such as Giuseppe Garibaldi!

The list could go on and on: mosaics please every taste — even sports fans can admire them in the premises of the Foro Italico, the sport complex built during the fascist regime. It is always of great advantage to read a little bit about the places one wants to discover before actually getting there. This oft-forgotten practice will enrich one’s understanding immensely, and also save time. In the case of mosaic art, extensive literature is available in specialised bookstores or at public libraries. Most of it though, is monographic and fit only for in depth academic reading.

Alternatively, for an easy and yet comprehensive introduction to the subject, visit the Web site www.mosaictesserae.com.

You might even be tempted to go to Rome right now.

Pascarelli, a licensed guide in Rome and Vatican City, is author of the book Mosaic: The Work of the Muses.

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