Details

LOT 0162

Large Byzantine Cosmatesque Mosaic Panel

12TH-13TH CENTURY A.D.

31 1/2 in. (57 kg, 80cm).

A rectangular marble floor panel recalling similar workmanship to the floor of the Sistine Chapel, comprising a large central panel with a chequerboard design of alternating geometric floral motifs with speckled porphyry squares, surrounded by seven green and porphyry roundels, each with a bicolour border composed of interlocking triangles and lozenges; each corner with an L-shaped panel displaying a unique geometric design composed of alternating square, lozenge-shaped and small rectangular tiles.

Provenance

French gallery, Paris, 1990s.
From a family collection.

Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.11586-199348.

Literature

See Boito, C., Architettura Cosmatesca, Torino, 1860; Hutton, E., The Cosmati, The Roman Marble Workers of the XIIth and XIIIth Centuries, London, 1950; Tosca, P., Storia dell’Arte Italiana, il medioevo, vol. III, Torino, 1965; Matthiae, G., 'Componenti del gusto decorativo cosmatesco,' in Rivista dell'Istituto Nazionale di Archeologia e Storia dell'Arte, vol. I, 1952, pp.249-281; Cigola, M., 'Mosaici pavimentali cosmateschi. Segni, disegni e simboli,' in Palladio, Nuova serie, anno VI n. 11, giugno 1993, pp.101-110.

Footnotes

The Cosmatesque Style was a characteristic type of ornamentation of Eastern Roman origin (opus alexandrinum) used by the post-Roman marble makers of the 12th and 13th centuries A.D. It embellishes floors, ciboriums and cloisters of churches by means of polychrome marble inlays of varied and imaginative geometric shapes. The wider use of this decoration began in the 12th century, at which time techniques were improved: the Cosmati floors were made with pieces of stone cut in various shapes and sizes, a property quite different from the mosaics in opus tessellatum, in which the motifs were made from small units all having the same size and shape, or from the opus sectile, intended to create representations with pieces of multi-coloured marble cut out and arranged for this purpose. The stones used by Cosmati artists were often material salvaged from the ruins of ancient Roman buildings.
The composition of such mosaics recalls the floors of the most important churches of Rome; in addition to the floor of the Sistine Chapel (created probably in the 14th century for the previous building or Cappella Maggiore), one can cite that of Santa Maria Maggiore (1145-1153 A.D.), San Giovanni in Laterano (14th century A.D.), Saint Clement (1099-1120 A.D.), Santi Quattro Coronati (13th century A.D.), Santa Croce in Gerusalemme (12th century A.D.) and many others.