DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.55204#0023
THE FIGURE OF CHRIST 17
with diaper-patterned gold brocade covered by squares drawn with sides of
blue and with angles of pearl, and from each of these angles there hangs, as it
were, a cross-shaped twig with three leaves. The massive box-shaped seat of
the throne rests on legs, of which the two on the side away from the Emperor
are recognizable, but the mosaics near the hands of that figure are damaged in
a manner to confuse the leg of the throne at that point. Here the Fossati work-
men filled up a gap with plaster and set into it in a very clumsy fashion some
of the cubes which belonged there. Probably they were frightened by some
instability of the surface, hurriedly replaced the loose tessellae, and covered them
over with their plaster; but they attempted no restoration. The figure of
Christ rests on a thick cushion which lies on the seat. The cushion is covered
by a golden material with a pattern executed in blue; it is edged with a red
cord. Its semicircular ends are of green, and a white line marks at either
extremity the division between the ends and the cushion proper.
The impression conveyed by the throne is one of great magnificence. It is an
imperial throne. The throne appears in coinage of this period, in miniatures of
approximately the same date in the Homilies of St. Gregory Nazianzus (Paris.
Grec. 510), and its widespread fame seems to be recorded in a painting of but a
little later time at Carpignano. If the material of its structure is not metal, it is
wood overlaid with gold studded with enamels, pearls, and other precious
stones. The foot-stool is only less splendid; it, too, is shown in precious metal,
but it bears no adornment of gems. For the execution of this part of his work,
as elsewhere, it is certain that the artist used a process similar to that observed by
Fedor Shmit in the mosaics at Nicaea, and stained the plaster a deep red in which
he set his translucent tessellae, producing a golden lustre with ruby reflections.
THE EMPEROR
The movement of the Emperor’s body (Pl. XIV) suggests that he has partly lifted
it after having prostrated himself, and that now he has raised his hands in a pause
of supplication. The line shown crossing the neck is deepened by the rising
motion of the Emperor’s head. His eyes are turned away from the majesty
before him in concentrated meditation.
The Emperor is nimbate. This marks him as a terrestrial monarch; Christ’s
nimbus is that of the King of Heaven. The nimbus both of Christ and of the
Emperor is composed not of rows of concentrically set tessellae, as is usual, but
of horizontal lines, as in the nimbus of St. Demetrius in Salonika, a continuation
of the lines of the gold tessellae of the background, except in the cross behind the
head of Christ where they are set closer than those of the gold background.
The drawing of the Emperor’s features (Pl. XXI) is characterized by the
c
with diaper-patterned gold brocade covered by squares drawn with sides of
blue and with angles of pearl, and from each of these angles there hangs, as it
were, a cross-shaped twig with three leaves. The massive box-shaped seat of
the throne rests on legs, of which the two on the side away from the Emperor
are recognizable, but the mosaics near the hands of that figure are damaged in
a manner to confuse the leg of the throne at that point. Here the Fossati work-
men filled up a gap with plaster and set into it in a very clumsy fashion some
of the cubes which belonged there. Probably they were frightened by some
instability of the surface, hurriedly replaced the loose tessellae, and covered them
over with their plaster; but they attempted no restoration. The figure of
Christ rests on a thick cushion which lies on the seat. The cushion is covered
by a golden material with a pattern executed in blue; it is edged with a red
cord. Its semicircular ends are of green, and a white line marks at either
extremity the division between the ends and the cushion proper.
The impression conveyed by the throne is one of great magnificence. It is an
imperial throne. The throne appears in coinage of this period, in miniatures of
approximately the same date in the Homilies of St. Gregory Nazianzus (Paris.
Grec. 510), and its widespread fame seems to be recorded in a painting of but a
little later time at Carpignano. If the material of its structure is not metal, it is
wood overlaid with gold studded with enamels, pearls, and other precious
stones. The foot-stool is only less splendid; it, too, is shown in precious metal,
but it bears no adornment of gems. For the execution of this part of his work,
as elsewhere, it is certain that the artist used a process similar to that observed by
Fedor Shmit in the mosaics at Nicaea, and stained the plaster a deep red in which
he set his translucent tessellae, producing a golden lustre with ruby reflections.
THE EMPEROR
The movement of the Emperor’s body (Pl. XIV) suggests that he has partly lifted
it after having prostrated himself, and that now he has raised his hands in a pause
of supplication. The line shown crossing the neck is deepened by the rising
motion of the Emperor’s head. His eyes are turned away from the majesty
before him in concentrated meditation.
The Emperor is nimbate. This marks him as a terrestrial monarch; Christ’s
nimbus is that of the King of Heaven. The nimbus both of Christ and of the
Emperor is composed not of rows of concentrically set tessellae, as is usual, but
of horizontal lines, as in the nimbus of St. Demetrius in Salonika, a continuation
of the lines of the gold tessellae of the background, except in the cross behind the
head of Christ where they are set closer than those of the gold background.
The drawing of the Emperor’s features (Pl. XXI) is characterized by the
c