The Brochure Series of Architectural Illustration, Vol. 01, No. 03, March 1895

XVII. Capitals from the Cloister of Monreale, Sicily.

XVII.
CAPITALS FROM THE CLOISTER OF MONREALE, SICILY

The hybrid character of this work will be perfectly evident at a glance. It plainly belongs to none of the styles of the North, but nevertheless has a distinct character and unmistakable charm. The use of mosaic originally placed in the channels of the shafts added greatly to the decorative effect and airiness of these columns.

XVIII. Capitals from the Cloister of Monreale, Sicily.

XVIII.
CAPITALS FROM THE CLOISTER OF MONREALE, SICILY

A common device in most of the Romanesque cloisters for adding interest to the long colonnade was the grouping of two columns of dissimilar design. This plan is followed here in treating the mosaic inlay vertically in one and horizontally in the other.

XIX. Capitals from the Cloister of Monreale, Sicily.

XIX.
CAPITALS FROM THE CLOISTER OF MONREALE, SICILY

The design of the capitals shown in this plate follows the Corinthian model very closely.

XX. The Cloister of Monreale, Sicily.

XX.
THE CLOISTER OF MONREALE, SICILY

In a later number of THE BROCHURE SERIES another view of this most charming building will be given. The portion surrounding the fountain, with its groups of four clustered columns, is, in many respects, the most beautiful portion of the structure This will be taken up later.

Ravenna Capitals

With the reign of Constantine, and the introduction of Christianity as the acknowledged religion of Rome, Byzantine art, as such, made its appearance. The culture of Rome was transferred to Byzantium, henceforth to be known as Constantinople. Governed alternately by Greek and by Persian, it had received a strong Oriental character from the Eastern nations, and had added to the Greek subtlety and delicacy of expression the Oriental love of detail. When converted by Constantine into New Rome, it became a perfect treasure house of Eastern and Grecian art. The Byzantine work, which spread over the East in the sixth, seventh, and eighth centuries, is therefore a union of the refinement of the Greek, the desire for color and detail of the Oriental, and the vigor of constructional invention and conception of mass and grandeur of the Roman. A portion of it was transplanted to Ravenna during Justinian's reign, and there is a glorious afterglow in the Venetian splendor of the tenth and eleventh centuries. The three great centres of Byzantine art work are Constantinople, Ravenna, and Venice; and the three most noted examples, the churches of Sta. Sophia, S. Vitale, and St. Mark's. Apart from these, the cathedral at Monreale, and the Capella Palatina in Palermo, Sicily, represent a variation from the Byzantine type affected by Moslem design.

From the time of Constantine to that of Justinian, one hundred and fifty years, is a period of formation. Under the reign of Justinian, Byzantine art reached its height. Prominent among its factors is the use of mosaic, the influence of which spread insidiously through its whole system, until in the later work the cornices and entablatures of classic design withered into long thin lines of moulding; projections which disturbed the effect of color by the shadows they cast were discarded; voussoirs disappeared under a mosaic veil; surfaces resolved themselves into broad expanses of infinitely varied tones, bounded by narrow but strongly contrasting bands and borders of marble. All ornament had resolved itself into surface decoration, or as nearly that as possible.

In 539 Belisarius took Ravenna in the name of the Emperor Justinian, and to celebrate this event Justinian decided to erect a magnificent monument in the city. He chose to replace, by a more important structure, the small church dedicated to S. Vitale, and built by Néon in the reign of Theodoric.

The wonderful basilica of Sta. Sophia at Constantinople was just completed, and the novelty of its plan and immense effect Produced by its dome, a method of construction entirely novel in Roman architecture, doubtless excited the admiration of the Emperor and led to the adoption of a similar plan for S. Vitale. S. Vitale 18 by no means a copy of Sta. Sophia, but unquestionably was strongly influenced by it.

It was founded in 540, and consecrated in 547. It is octagonal in plan, with an inner structure of eight large piers, arranged in a circle, connected by arches which support a pendentive dome. Following the custom then in vogue, its interior is incrusted throughout with elaborate mosaics in a wealth of color. The most elaborate design and richest color is used in the apse, which was the centre of display in all Byzantine churches.

XXI. Capital from the Apse of the Church of S. Vitale, Ravenna, Italy.