DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.16632#0168
140
History of Garden Art
shell of Thessalian stone, inlaid with black and white marble; and the water breaks into
a thousand sparkles. On the pillar sits an eagle with wings outstretched as if he would
bathe in the stream; water spouts from his beak, and falls down the pillar side, reflecting
a thousand hues. On the edge of the round basin a goat rests her foot and drinks, behind
is a shepherd milking her; a hare also supports a fore-paw on the brim, and all sorts of
birds—swallows, doves, hens, peacocks—pour out water from their beaks; the apparatus
moreover makes sounds that imitate their different voices. Round in a circle are marble
seats and footstools, and the myrtles are cut to make a green roof overhead.
FIG. IOO. FOUNTAIN AND ARBOUR—A MOSAIC FROM THE DAPHNE CLOISTER NEAR ANTIOCH
But the well by the Basilica of the Emperor Basil is a proof that, conventional as their
tales appear, they yet described particular objects after the models they saw about them.
The naturalistic imitation of animals, even by reproducing the voices mechanically, found
its way to the grand imperial receptions. Bishop Liudprand, who several times visited
the court of Constantinople as ambassador from Berengarius and Otho I., gives an
account of the emperor's throne-room of the Magnaura: he saw a brass tree, gold-plated,
that stood before the throne, and on its branches gilt birds of different sizes, which sang
each with its proper notes. The throne was so placed that it could be raised or lowered,
sometimes being quite high up. It was guarded by two lions of enormous size, whether of
brass or of wood he does not say, but overlaid with gold. At an appointed time they beat
on the ground with their tails, opened their jaws, wagged their tongues, and roared. This
display did not impose on the bishop, but that the Byzantines themselves took it as a
real expression of the emperor's greatness is clear from the similar account that appears
in the Book of Ceremonies of Constantine Porphyrogenetos. Thus we have met again
History of Garden Art
shell of Thessalian stone, inlaid with black and white marble; and the water breaks into
a thousand sparkles. On the pillar sits an eagle with wings outstretched as if he would
bathe in the stream; water spouts from his beak, and falls down the pillar side, reflecting
a thousand hues. On the edge of the round basin a goat rests her foot and drinks, behind
is a shepherd milking her; a hare also supports a fore-paw on the brim, and all sorts of
birds—swallows, doves, hens, peacocks—pour out water from their beaks; the apparatus
moreover makes sounds that imitate their different voices. Round in a circle are marble
seats and footstools, and the myrtles are cut to make a green roof overhead.
FIG. IOO. FOUNTAIN AND ARBOUR—A MOSAIC FROM THE DAPHNE CLOISTER NEAR ANTIOCH
But the well by the Basilica of the Emperor Basil is a proof that, conventional as their
tales appear, they yet described particular objects after the models they saw about them.
The naturalistic imitation of animals, even by reproducing the voices mechanically, found
its way to the grand imperial receptions. Bishop Liudprand, who several times visited
the court of Constantinople as ambassador from Berengarius and Otho I., gives an
account of the emperor's throne-room of the Magnaura: he saw a brass tree, gold-plated,
that stood before the throne, and on its branches gilt birds of different sizes, which sang
each with its proper notes. The throne was so placed that it could be raised or lowered,
sometimes being quite high up. It was guarded by two lions of enormous size, whether of
brass or of wood he does not say, but overlaid with gold. At an appointed time they beat
on the ground with their tails, opened their jaws, wagged their tongues, and roared. This
display did not impose on the bishop, but that the Byzantines themselves took it as a
real expression of the emperor's greatness is clear from the similar account that appears
in the Book of Ceremonies of Constantine Porphyrogenetos. Thus we have met again