Londinium, Architecture and the CraftsLethaby, W. R. (William Richard)
History
Londinium, Architecture and the Crafts
Lethaby, W. R. (William Richard)
England -- Antiquities, Roman; London (England) -- Antiquities, Roman; Romans -- England -- London
Against such a judgment I will call three witnesses—Westmacott, the
sculptor, as above, William Morris, the master pattern designer, and Mr.
Alfred Powell. Morris says: “This splendid Roman scrollwork, though not
very beautiful in itself, is the parent of very beautiful things. It is
perhaps in the noble craft of mosaic that the foreshadowings of the new
art are best seen. There is a sign in them of the coming wave of the
great change which was to turn late Roman art, the last of the old, into
Byzantine art, the first of the new.” Mr. Powell, who repaired the
Orpheus Pavement at the Barton, Cirencester, and became thoroughly
acquainted with the powerfully-drawn animals on it, says: “These
creatures of the forest have been set out here in the tiny scraps of
coloured stone with an ease and mastery that is remarkable. There is
grace in their gesture that has seldom been reached in the art of even
the highest period of the life of a nation.” The Woodchester Orpheus
Pavement, which, judging from points of resemblance in design and
details (a horned and bearded griffin, for instance), must have been by
the same master, was a magnificent work, as, indeed, the fragment of its
splendid border in the British Museum is enough to show.
Completer lists of London mosaics than I can attempt here have been
given in other places (see Morgan’s _Romano-British Mosaics_, C. Roach
Smith’s _Roman London_, and _V.C.H._). Here and there all over the city
at depths of from about 8 ft. to 20 ft. pavements have been found
submerged by the rising levels of the ground. Scores have been noted,
many must have been destroyed without a record, and doubtless some yet
lie hidden to-day. In an old MS. Common-place Book I have is the
following note: “On Wed., Aug. 15, 1733, some bricklayers digging
foundations in Little St. Helen’s, Bishopsgate, discovered a Roman
pavement, which by ye inscription [?] had been laid about 1700 years
ago. It appeared a very beautiful prospect, being in mosaic working, the
tiles not above an inch square.”
[Illustration:
FIG. 88.
]
My purpose is to record a few fresh observations, to bring out by
grouping and comparison some general inferences and indications of date,
to evoke, if I could, some clear idea of the buildings to which such
things belonged, and to prepare the way for a full study of these
remarkable works.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account