Cosmati
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The Cosmati were a
In addition, members of the Cosmati engaged in commerce in ancient sculptures, some unearthed in the course of excavating for marbles for reuse. More than one
The following are the main known Cosmati:
- Lorenzo (dated works 1190–1210 but probably active earlier)
- Jacopo (dated works 1205 and 1210)
- Cosimo (1210–1235)
- Luca (1221–1240)
- Jacopo (1213–1293)
- Deodato (1225–1303)
- Giovanni (1231 and 1235)
The earliest recorded work was executed for a church at Fabieri in 1190 (Lorenzo) (CE). The principal works of the Cosmati in Rome are:
- Santa Maria in Aracoeli(Lorenzo)
- door at San Saba, 1205
- door with mosaics at San Tommaso in Formis (Jacopo)
- Chapel of the Sancta Sanctorum by the Lateran (Cosimo)
- pavement of San Giacomo alla Lungara
- the magnificent episcopal throne and choir-screen in San Lorenzo fuori le Mura, of 1254 (probably Jacopo the younger)
- baldacchini of the Lateran and of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, c. 1294 (Deodato)
- tombs in Santa Maria sopra Minerva (c. 1296), in Santa Maria Maggiore, and in Santa Balbina (Giovanni).
The chief signed works by Jacopo the younger and his brother Luca are at
A large number of other works by members and pupils of the same family, but unsigned, exist in Rome. These are mainly
Besides the more mechanical sort of work, such as mosaic patterns and architectural decoration, they also produced mosaic pictures and
Cosmatesque decoration is not entirely confined to Rome, or even to Italy. At Westminster Abbey there are two Cosmatesque pavements, the finest north of the Alps[3] set in Purbeck Marble: one is the Great Pavement before the high altar, the other the paving and decor associated with the shrine of Edward the Confessor in the Sanctuary, both works executed about 1268 for the connoisseur-king Henry III. They are extremely unusual in England: more characteristic luxury flooring in England consisted of lead-glazed ceramic tiles painted in patterns. This mosaic is depicted in Hans Holbein's The Ambassadors.
The general style of works of the Cosmati school is more closely related to Romanesque art, even though some of the buildings they worked in are Gothic, as in their main lines are their larger structures, especially in the elaborate altar-canopies, with their pierced geometrical tracery. In detail, however, they differ widely from the purer Gothic of northern countries. The richness of effect which the English or French architect obtained by elaborate and carefully worked mouldings was produced in Italy by the beauty of polished marbles and jewel-like mosaics; the details being mostly rather coarse and often carelessly executed.[1]
Ecclesiastical patronage in Rome dried up with the removal of the Papacy to Avignon in 1305, and by the time the curial court had returned and the ensuing schism had been settled a hundred years later, the craft tradition had lapsed. The differential resistance of the stones used in Cosmati work, marbles, porphyry and other coloured stones has resulted in uneven wear on pavements, which have been periodically repaired, whether finely or coarsely, since the late Middle Ages, with the result that modern assessments of the quality of individual works may be compromised by overlooking later repairs.
Gallery
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Largest surviving floor by the Cosmati in the crypt of Anagni Cathedral
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Mosaic by Lorenzo Cosmati with the symbol of the Trinitarian Order over the portal of San Tommaso in Formis, 1210
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Cosmati pulpit and floor in Santa Maria Assunta in Lugnano in Teverina
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Presbyterium of Cathedral in Gaeta
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Original mosaics and coronation circle of Westminster Abbey, London
References
- ^ a b c d e public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Cosmati". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 214. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
- ^ P. Fedele (1909). "Sul commercio delle antichità in Roma nel XII secolo". In: Archivio della Società Romana di Storia Patria 32, p. 465–70, as noted in Robert Weiss (1973). The Renaissance Discovery of Classical Antiquity. Oxford: Blackwell, p. 9.
- ^ About the "Westminster Abbey: Protecting the ‘End of the World’ Pavement" on homepage of Westminster Abbey.
Literature
- "Cosmati Mosaic" in the Catholic Encyclopedia (1908).
- Dorothy Glass (1984).?
- Linda Grant and Richard Mortimer (2002). Westminster Abbey: The Cosmati Pavements. Courtauld Institute Research Papers, No. 3. Online review
- Paloma Pajarez-Ayuela (2001). Cosmatesque Ornament: Flat Polychrome Geometric Patterns in Architecture. London and New York: WW Norton. Online review