DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.24719#0181
THE CHURCH OF ST. GEORGE.
137
sanctorum of the Christians. Although the architectural composition of these pictures is varied,
the subject is always the same; that is to say, a small temple in the centre of a splendid
colonnade; to the right and left of each of these temples is the figure of a man clad, in the
toga or the chlamys, his hands raised in the attitude of adoration. This we have before men-
tioned was the position of the early Christians at the time of prayer; it ivas in this position
that Constantine caused himself to he depicted in one of the halls of his palace.
These eight pictures are regularly arranged, one above each of the chapels. The architectonic
style of their composition accords well with the severe and simple character of the church, and
the complete absence of mouldings, or any other projections, gives the interior an air of simple
grandeur that at once strikes the spectator.
The colossal figures of saints, all clad in a similar manner, their hands stretched towards
heaven, were doubtless well calculated to make an impression upon the Christians assembled
beneath the dome.
By the side of each saint is inscribed his name and the month of the year consecrated
to him.
These mosaics are the best specimens of the Byzantine school remaining.
We may gain some idea of the prodigious labour employed in their execution from the
following calculation :—The diameter of the cupolas is 78*72 feet; the circumference, 24<7'259 feet.
The surface contains 9,732 square feet, each cube being -01G foot square. Thus there
would he 3,718 cubes in every square foot, or more than 36,000,000 on the whole surface of
the dome.
The tints employed in the cubes are infinite ; but there are ten pi’incipal colours.
The gilt cubes are composed of glass slightly coloured yellow. They seem to have
been submitted to a second burning after the application of the gold. The blue is a real
enamel, that is to say, glass coloured with oxide of tin.
In the present day, the mosaic-workers at Home and Venice prepare their enamels in
slabs, which are broken into small pieces ; the Byzantines prepared theirs in masses or cakes
of varying thickness, which could be cut up into cubes.
The blues are composed of cobalt and blue oxide of copper, a colouring composition
described by Vitruvius.
The reds are of two sorts: one is obtained by means of oxide of iron; the other, which
is principally employed in the flesh-tints, is formed by an enamel, the composition of which
was discovered in 1775 by the Roman chemist Mattioli, and is known in Rome by the name
of purpurino: it is composed of silica, potass, and protoxide of copper: the mosaicists of Rome
often employ this enamel to fix their mosaics. But the purple is far from being as beautiful
as the ancient purpurine, in the composition of which there was no doubt realgar or red
arsenic. Amongst the ruins of Rome were found little caskets of purpurine.
The yellow enamels are obtained by the' employment of antimony, the whites by means of
oxide of tin : we have never observed a single natural stone used in these mosaics.
The violets are derived from manganese : they are employed chiefly in vestments.
The intense blacks were obtained by a process with which we are unacquainted. The
enamcllers of Constantinople have lost the art of making it.
The green enamel is an oxide of copper, which gives tones of varied intensity.
The outline of each figure is marked by a dark shade, and the middle is filled with
cubes, which are arranged so as to follow the outline. The cement used to unite the cubes
is no doubt the same that is still used by the mosaic-workers of our own day, — a paste
made of powdered travertine and linseed-oil.
It is needless to remark that if the surface of the dome were washed, the colours of
these magnificent pictures would be as brilliant as they were on the day they were executed.
It is to be regretted that the Turks are careless about their preservation. When Mr. Pullan
visited the mosque, which is generally shut up, the boy who had been sent by the imaum as a
guide, amused himself by throwing stones at the mosaics of the dome, for the purpose of
detaching some of the coloured cubes to sell to strangers.
Plates XXX. to XXXIII. contain representations of the four most important and best-
preserved of these pictures from careful drawings coloured on the spot.
137
sanctorum of the Christians. Although the architectural composition of these pictures is varied,
the subject is always the same; that is to say, a small temple in the centre of a splendid
colonnade; to the right and left of each of these temples is the figure of a man clad, in the
toga or the chlamys, his hands raised in the attitude of adoration. This we have before men-
tioned was the position of the early Christians at the time of prayer; it ivas in this position
that Constantine caused himself to he depicted in one of the halls of his palace.
These eight pictures are regularly arranged, one above each of the chapels. The architectonic
style of their composition accords well with the severe and simple character of the church, and
the complete absence of mouldings, or any other projections, gives the interior an air of simple
grandeur that at once strikes the spectator.
The colossal figures of saints, all clad in a similar manner, their hands stretched towards
heaven, were doubtless well calculated to make an impression upon the Christians assembled
beneath the dome.
By the side of each saint is inscribed his name and the month of the year consecrated
to him.
These mosaics are the best specimens of the Byzantine school remaining.
We may gain some idea of the prodigious labour employed in their execution from the
following calculation :—The diameter of the cupolas is 78*72 feet; the circumference, 24<7'259 feet.
The surface contains 9,732 square feet, each cube being -01G foot square. Thus there
would he 3,718 cubes in every square foot, or more than 36,000,000 on the whole surface of
the dome.
The tints employed in the cubes are infinite ; but there are ten pi’incipal colours.
The gilt cubes are composed of glass slightly coloured yellow. They seem to have
been submitted to a second burning after the application of the gold. The blue is a real
enamel, that is to say, glass coloured with oxide of tin.
In the present day, the mosaic-workers at Home and Venice prepare their enamels in
slabs, which are broken into small pieces ; the Byzantines prepared theirs in masses or cakes
of varying thickness, which could be cut up into cubes.
The blues are composed of cobalt and blue oxide of copper, a colouring composition
described by Vitruvius.
The reds are of two sorts: one is obtained by means of oxide of iron; the other, which
is principally employed in the flesh-tints, is formed by an enamel, the composition of which
was discovered in 1775 by the Roman chemist Mattioli, and is known in Rome by the name
of purpurino: it is composed of silica, potass, and protoxide of copper: the mosaicists of Rome
often employ this enamel to fix their mosaics. But the purple is far from being as beautiful
as the ancient purpurine, in the composition of which there was no doubt realgar or red
arsenic. Amongst the ruins of Rome were found little caskets of purpurine.
The yellow enamels are obtained by the' employment of antimony, the whites by means of
oxide of tin : we have never observed a single natural stone used in these mosaics.
The violets are derived from manganese : they are employed chiefly in vestments.
The intense blacks were obtained by a process with which we are unacquainted. The
enamcllers of Constantinople have lost the art of making it.
The green enamel is an oxide of copper, which gives tones of varied intensity.
The outline of each figure is marked by a dark shade, and the middle is filled with
cubes, which are arranged so as to follow the outline. The cement used to unite the cubes
is no doubt the same that is still used by the mosaic-workers of our own day, — a paste
made of powdered travertine and linseed-oil.
It is needless to remark that if the surface of the dome were washed, the colours of
these magnificent pictures would be as brilliant as they were on the day they were executed.
It is to be regretted that the Turks are careless about their preservation. When Mr. Pullan
visited the mosque, which is generally shut up, the boy who had been sent by the imaum as a
guide, amused himself by throwing stones at the mosaics of the dome, for the purpose of
detaching some of the coloured cubes to sell to strangers.
Plates XXX. to XXXIII. contain representations of the four most important and best-
preserved of these pictures from careful drawings coloured on the spot.