Pulpits of Southern Italy.
The pulpits and ambos chosen for the illustrations in this issue of The Brochures are mainly interesting for their wonderful mosaic decorations which are among the finest of their kind which have ever been executed. The work of the family of Cosmati, by whose name the Roman mosaic or inlay of this description is known, such as that in plate LXXI, is similar in design and method of execution to that shown in the other plates. There is one point, however, in which the Roman work is quite different. In Sicily and southern Italy the bands and borders of geometrical patterns are largely made up of glass or composition, while the Cosmati confined themselves to the use of colored marbles. In the south, and particularly in Sicily, gold is freely used, but this is lacking in the work of the Cosmati. As a result of this difference in material a wider range of color is possible in the southern mosaics than in those of Rome; and this is especially noticeable in the use of blues, which give much of the character to the beautiful examples shown in our plates, which we regret we cannot reproduce in color. The altar, pulpit, and bishop's throne in the churches of SS. Nerone ed Achille and S. Cesario in Rome may be taken as additional examples.
This is a form of decoration which may be found in many of the Byzantine churches of the eleventh and twelfth centuries and also in the Tuscan churches of the same epoch, notably in the Baptistery at Pisa and in the church of San Miniato al Monte in Florence.
The mosaic floors, dados, and solid railings of the Palermitan monuments all seem to belong to this class: a ground of gray or white marble slabs with large panels of colored marble, mosaic bands of geometrical pattern let into the marble, and sometimes a plain framework of one member with a carved row of conventional leaves. In Palermo a grayish veined Greek marble similar to that used in Venice and Ravenna was almost exclusively used as a background. It formed a most admirable setting for the inlaid marble mosaics which were laid in rebated panels in the marble slabs, making a perfectly smooth surface. In the floor mosaics green serpentine and red or purple porphyry are the usual colors besides the gray, while brighter reds, gold, blues, white, and a variety of other glasses (smalti) are employed with the serpentine and porphyry in the mosaics on walls, pulpits, and screens.
In all of the work referred to above, the separate pieces of marble or glass are carefully shaped to fit the patterns they are intended to form, and in this respect differ from the Byzantine and other wall mosaics, and from the earlier Roman mosaic pavements such as those which are familiar in the Pompeiian buildings. In the latter the shape and often the size of the pieces making up the pattern were of comparatively little importance, and the pieces were imbedded in a matrix which filled up the interstices and gave a background of neutral color.
The marble pavements, made up of discs, squares, and other geometrical forms of colored marbles surrounded by bands or borders of a smaller scale, were similar in design to some of the mosaics shown in our plates. This work is known as Opus Alexandrinum and is familiar from the pavements of St. Mark's and the church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli in Venice.
LXV.
Ambo in the Capella Palatina, Palermo, Sicily
The Capella Palatina was built and dedicated to St. Peter by King Roger the Second of Sicily. It must have been begun soon after Roger's coronation, and was finished in the year 1143.
It is of the same period as the cloister of Monreale, which was described and illustrated in the March number of The Brochure Series; and the work here shown distinctly recalls the mosaics upon the twisted columns in this cloister.
The interior is famous as one of the most beautiful works of color decoration extant. Its general tone is bluish green with mosaic walls and floor and a wooden ceiling decorated in tempera with cufic inscriptions. It is scantily lighted with small windows, giving a rather sombre effect. The best mosaics are in the chancel and apses.
The beautiful ambo is one of its most attractive features. The famous candelabrum of five tiers of figures, at the projecting angle, is of white marble.
LXVI.
Ambo in the Cathedral, Salerno, Italy.
LXVII.
Pulpit in the Cathedral, Salerno, Italy.
Salerno and Ravello were both included under the Norman rule of the kingdom of Naples and Sicily in the eleventh century, and the work here shown all belongs to the Norman period.
The Cathedral of Salerno was founded and dedicated to St. Matthew in 1084 by Robert Guiscard, who plundered the temples of Paestum of their marbles and sculptures to embellish it.
The two pulpits and that in the choir in front of the archbishop's throne, which are said to have been executed by order of John of Procida, are fine examples of the rich mosaic work of the period. The two large pulpits are placed in the nave, before the choir, which here has retained its original position in front of the high altar. Stairs opening out of the choir, finely decorated in mosaic, lead to each pulpit. In front of the larger one on the right is a fine Paschal candelabrum, decorated in mosaic. The pulpit itself is supported on twelve granite columns, while the four supports of the opposite ambo are the very rare black porphyry called Porfido Nero-Bianco. The raised space between is paved in Opus Alexandrinum.
LXVIII.
Pulpit in the Cathedral, Ravello.
The Cathedral at Ravello, dedicated to S. Pantaleo, was founded by Niccolo Rufolo, Duke of Sora and grand admiral under Count Roger of Sicily.
The marble pulpit, or Gospel ambo, inlaid with mosaics, was built, according to a Latin inscription which it bears, in the year 1272, at the cost of Niccolo Rufolo, a descendant of the grand admiral. Another inscription records the fact that it was the work of Nicholas, the son of Bartolommeus of Foggia.
LXIX.
Ambo in the Cathedral, Ravello.
The Epistle ambo, situated on the opposite side of the church from the main pulpit, is of earlier date than the latter. The mosaics represent on one side Jonah being swallowed by the whale, and on the other his being ejected. It bears the name of Costantino Rogadeo, the second bishop of Ravello, and probably dates from about 1130.
LXX.
Pulpit in the Church of S. Giovanni, Ravello.
The church of San Giovanni del Toro also dates from the time of King Roger. The story of Jonah will be seen again depicted here.
LXXI.
Ambo in S. Lorenzo fuori le Mura, Rome.
The Basilica of S. Lorenzo fuori le Mura was originally only an oratory over the Catacombs of S. Cyriaca, and was said to have been founded by Constantine about A.D. 330. It was enlarged and partly rebuilt in the fifth and sixth centuries, and in 1216 was again remodeled by Honorius III, who built the present long nave and its portico, raised the chancel, and filled up with rubbish the lower church. It is thus a grand collection of details of various periods, but all of much interest.
Its two ambos stand on each side of the raised portion of the floor which corresponds to the choir in the Basilica of Honorius. The Gospel was chanted from the one on the south side with the reading desk turned towards the choir; and the Epistle from the one on the north, with a single desk towards the high altar. Before the Gospel ambo is a fine mosaic candelabrum standing on a Roman cippus reversed, having an olive branch and birds sculptured on it.
The pavement as well as the work upon these two ambos is in the style of the Cosmati.
LXXII.
Pulpit in the Cathedral at Messina, Sicily.
The Cathedral (S.M. Nuova) was founded by Count Roger in 1098, and was finished by his son Roger. The interior is 305 feet in length, and is a Latin cross with three aisles, separated by twenty-six columns of Egyptian granite said to have been taken from the temple of Neptune at Faro; they have gilt Corinthian capitals. The roof is of wood and is a restoration by King Manfred of an ancient roof burned in 1254 at the funeral of Conrad, son of Emperor Frederick II, the canopy over the corpse having been so high that the lights by which it was crowned set fire to the rafters. The three apses are filled with fine mosaics.
The pulpit of white marble is attributed to Gogini, and the font near it to Gaddo Gaddi of Florence.