DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.27180#0413
CONSTANTINOPLE
Constantinople. Outside they look like kitchen utensils
thickly studded with dish-covers. Inside they are Turkish
baths without water. In the pretty church of the Chora in
the extreme north of the city, now called Kahrie-Djami, we
found a narrow hall with mosaics intact. They are late:
fourteenth century, I believe. The astounding animation of
the drawing here brings mosaic close to painting. Their
realism is also advanced, though the technique of the tesserae
is always somewhat whimsical. They are intimate mosaics
whose modest dimensions suit the hall. Dithyramb yields to
a conversational tone adapted to story-telling, but the tone
preserves the rhythmic sequence. The picture always re-
mains agreeably decorative; in that respect it differs favour-
ably from wall-painting as then practised in Italy, where they
tried to turn the wall into a book. The usual comparison of
these mosaics with Giotto leaves out of account the funda-
mental Greek quality of flatness. Giotto began to destroy
the wall-surface: an act which was to lead to the flowering
of a new art. The mosaics of Kahrie-Djami are still part and
parcel of the wall. Their palette contains entrancing tints.
We were fascinated by a peacock decked out in all its glory.
Suddenly Babuschka started off again about Queen
Hatshepsut, and wanted to know whether we could look
forward to visiting Egypt again next winter.
377
Constantinople. Outside they look like kitchen utensils
thickly studded with dish-covers. Inside they are Turkish
baths without water. In the pretty church of the Chora in
the extreme north of the city, now called Kahrie-Djami, we
found a narrow hall with mosaics intact. They are late:
fourteenth century, I believe. The astounding animation of
the drawing here brings mosaic close to painting. Their
realism is also advanced, though the technique of the tesserae
is always somewhat whimsical. They are intimate mosaics
whose modest dimensions suit the hall. Dithyramb yields to
a conversational tone adapted to story-telling, but the tone
preserves the rhythmic sequence. The picture always re-
mains agreeably decorative; in that respect it differs favour-
ably from wall-painting as then practised in Italy, where they
tried to turn the wall into a book. The usual comparison of
these mosaics with Giotto leaves out of account the funda-
mental Greek quality of flatness. Giotto began to destroy
the wall-surface: an act which was to lead to the flowering
of a new art. The mosaics of Kahrie-Djami are still part and
parcel of the wall. Their palette contains entrancing tints.
We were fascinated by a peacock decked out in all its glory.
Suddenly Babuschka started off again about Queen
Hatshepsut, and wanted to know whether we could look
forward to visiting Egypt again next winter.
377