1000 Masterpieces of Decorative Art. Victoria CharlesЧитать онлайн книгу.
marquetry with different coloured woods inspired the arrangements used by Italian ivory craftsmen. What we shall witness next is the arrival in the West of a new art under the auspices of new religious aspirations.
The catacombs where the early Christians took refuge from the persecution of the Roman Emperors were to be the birthplace of this Christian art, which would evolve little by little away from the old thinking. Hot wax paintings, richly-sculpted sarcophagi and a wealth of tools, receptacles and so on bear witness to the momentum of this new world view, which would be marked by a use of allegory and symbolism borrowed, in particular, from Pagan thought. However, one distinguishes in the rough execution of their work, which was of a much poorer quality than that of Rome’s public buildings and imperial palaces, a thrust which was moving gradually away from those roots. When the vast Roman Empire tired of creating martyrs and inventing new forms of torture while its enemies expressed their faith through images of peace, happiness, unity, and hope, accepted the new faith, the images created in the catacombs began to decorate the walls of churches and basilicas. These images did not take on an identity entirely of their own until after the advent of Constantine when Christian art could safely develop inside these religious buildings.
At this point painting (sculpture was rather rare, found in the form of low reliefs on sarcophagi and was very similar in its themes to decorative painting) began to depict historical subjects, including Christ, the Virgin, the Apostles, Abraham and Moses, Jonah and Daniel, just as the artists of antiquity had depicted Perseus, Hercules and Theseus. It was not until basilicas had finally replaced profane buildings that Christians used images to celebrate their religion, through representations of their martyr’s victory. Justinian, who had recourse to the Greek artists who imported a style of architecture which paid homage to Constantinople into the West, established the Byzantine style.
The Byzantine style is essentially an eastern style. It speaks of India, Persia, and Syria – of Asia, in fact, and celebrates the wealth of detail and the magnificence of their decoration. Although the profusion of decoration found in the Byzantine style is less than tasteful, it has great character. In painting, figures stand out against a golden background and mosaic work has never been more widely used than it was during this period. Rich fabrics from Asia were also typical. These were painted or embroidered, covered with gold or silver leaf, precious stones, cabochons and large pieces of chased metal. Favourite motifs were flowers, animals, and ‘episodes from the life of Christ’. There might be up to six hundred figures on a tunic or cloak. Beds, seating, chests, vessels, and so on were made of delicately worked ebony, ivory, gold, silver, and bronze. This emphasis on luxury, seductive as it is, corrupted their taste and reflects the unusually free and pleasure-seeking manners of Byzantium. It was a time when wealth was a gateway to immorality and Byzantine art benefitted from the resulting splendour and pomp.
The Eastern peoples of antiquity were similar to modern Eastern peoples in the sense that they were content with a small range of furniture. Luxury was limited to the fine textiles that covered the frames provided with straps and webbing on which they slept. There were no chairs, tables or any of the other items of furniture we use today (except in royal palaces). Small chests and cabinets were used for all of these purposes. The lack of furniture can be ascribed to the fact that it was difficult to obtain suitable wood and to the fact that everyday life was simple as there was, at the time, very little middle ground between extravagant wealth and poverty. By contrast, at least as far as one can judge from remains and from frescoes and mosaics, the furnishings of the royal palaces were sumptuous. There were heavy solid thrones with cylindrical backs made up of a number of circles joined together, square seats with a cushion and heavy round legs and uprights. The decoration was hieratic and done in garish colours with alternating motifs. There were also mosaics and frescoes. There was an abundance of chandeliers, candelabras and worked bars. In summary, the Byzantine style was majestic. It used Greek ideas but rejected the Greek focus on simplicity and it is this difference that gives it its risky but captivating beauty. Its stylised decoration has the merit of imitating nature through routine and repetition and is an example of real beauty in an ornamental style.
The chest is an invention of the Middle Ages. Its shape, size, and the richness and quality of the decoration depend on the period when it was made. Chests may be made of wood or completely covered in painted fabric or leather. Along with the chest, the wardrobe is the other essential item of furniture, the only property that people of a certain status had. It was made of solid wood with metal fittings and its doors had a number of solid locks, giving the item the bleak appearance of a miniature fortress. Initially, joiners and carpenters made furniture. Later the task passed to wood carvers, who then became cabinet makers and did more detailed, finer woodwork. Furniture was always portable and still consisted of very few items: chest, stool, bed, and wardrobe. However, these could be used for a variety of purposes with the help of a few cushions. Non-portable furniture only began to appear in the 15th century. It was used to furnish palaces and castles, which had made do, up to that point, with chests, beds, benches, tables, and dressing tables with shelves which were transported by mule or on carts. The chests were used to store cushions and wall-hangings, painted canvases or tapestries, pieces of gold work to decorate the dressing tables and textiles which were used as floor coverings once scattering scented plants or straw on floors fell out of fashion.
To close this chapter, we should like to say something about jewellery. The invading barbarians were skilled in working precious metals. The Goths, in particular, made wonderful gold and silver work, primarily in Spain. However, in the Middle Ages, artists worked almost entirely for the church. Naturally, goldsmiths’ work and jewellery in the Middle Ages, as during other periods, followed fashions in architecture and sculpture. Champlevé enamelling was used as were precious stones, but the metal setting was rounded (until the mid-13th century). Solid, heavy Romanesque art was obliged to resist the delicacy of jewellery but Gothic art would not have lived up to its reputation for elegance, delicate tracery and filigree work if it had not triumphed in the goldsmith’s art as well as in architecture. We would be prepared to wager that, had more Gothic jewellery survived, we would have been able to distinguish High, Middle, and Late Gothic pieces just as we are able to recognise the equivalent architectural styles. In conclusion, let us simply remember that in the Middle Ages the jeweller’s art was used primarily to embellish reliquaries, shrines, mitres, crosiers, crosses, that these objects were decorated with enamelling which is renowned to this day and that the common people were not entitled to wear jewellery. This last point, which may be aesthetically understandable, although it is certainly undemocratic, perhaps opened the way for the dreadful imitation jewellery which is so much in vogue today.
79. Anonymous. St Vitale Basilica, north wall: two scenes from the life of Abraham, angels, Moses, the prophet Jeremiah, St John, and St Luke, c. 527–548. Mosaic. Basilica of St Vitale, Ravenna (Italy). Byzantine.
80. Anonymous. Procession of Twenty-Six Martyrs, 493–526. Mosaic. Basilica of St Apollinaris in Classe, Ravenna (Italy). Byzantine.
81. Anonymous. Miniature illustration of Vergilius Vaticanus, beginning of the 5th century. Illuminated manuscript, 21.9 × 19.6 cm. Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vatican City. Roman Antiquity.
82. Anonymous. The Good Shepherd (detail), 425–450. Mosaic. Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Ravenna (Italy). Byzantine.
83. Anonymous. Christ as a Warrior, c. 520. Mosaic. Museo Arcivescovile, Ravenna (Italy). Byzantine.
84. Anonymous. The Parting of Lot and Abraham, c. 432–440. Mosaic. Papal Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome. Roman Antiquity.
85. Anonymous. Locket of Empress Maria, Milan (?), 398–407. Cameo of silver, gold, emerald, and rubies. Musée du Louvre, Paris. High Middle Ages.
86. Anonymous.