Evening star., 1937-09-04

WAS done in mosaic, whose idea 1t
was to interpret it in this medium at
that time almost completely unused
but this neither his journal nor his
delightful autobiography. THE Di-
gressions of "" tells. AS about half
the price went in expenses" we do
know that he must have been obliged
himself to pay the skilled artisans who
made the transcription from his car
toon. This is quite customary-but it
could not have been an easy matter
to have found trained mosaic makers
In that day, even in Rome.
Quite remarkable, too, is the fact
that apparently Vedder has not in
fluenced in the least by the mosaics in
Ravenna and Venice, Sicily and else
where in Italy, with which he must
certainly have been familiar. There
Is no Byzantine flavor in this work
Evidencing classic forebears, this
Minerva is essentially modern, and
though She came to us from Rome,
II we may dare to say so, essentially
American. Not a real person-those
OF the NEUROLOGICAL hierarchy never
Were--but vivid personiflcation. The
wisdom for which this goddess stands
is eminently substantial, sane, SER
viceable
Mosaic is one OF the earliest if not
the earliest medium for pictorial art
In an exhibition of Art of the Dark
Ages held last Winter in the Art
Museum in Worcester, Mass, were
shown mosaics dating from the earliest
christian era, lately eXcavated on the
site OF the ancient city of Antioch.
The representations of saints and
martyrs, the God-head and the Holy
Family, depicted in mosaics on the
walls OF churches in Ravenna, date
back IN some instances to the fifth
century, and those glorious pictures
IN this medium, with gold BACKGROUND.
IN Saint Sophia. Istanbul, which now
are gradually being uncovered in all
thelr glory, were in some instances of
the time OF Justinian. No paintings
from this remote period survive. but
the mosaic makers from the fifth to
the eleventh centuries were not only
artists but painters in the truest sense
OF the word-their palette was set
with little blocks of color instead of
f1uld paint-that was all.
HE earliest mosaics known were OF
stone and for pavements. Stone
was also used for mosaics on interior
walls; but to satisfy the desire for
splenoor a more colorful medium was
sought and this proved to be glass. 1t
is glass cubical fragments, with the
uneven surfaces outward, that in most
instances were used. and still are used
Tor pictorial mural mosaics. The un-
even surfaces OF these catch the light
al various angles, and therefore when
set give an effect of richness and
orllllancy The making of glass was
an art in which the ancient peoples ex-
celled, and there was therefore no
olmculty IN obtaining material for
the mosaic artists use
The mosaics that were produced dur
ing the early Christian era show dis
tnctly classic influence in rigiditv of
style and retlcence in color, but with
the coming of the Byzantine Influence
the spirit of ''unbridlec luxury" eyl-
denced itself in this art, colors were
multiplied and enriched. there was
extensive use Of gold, occasionally of
mother-of-pearl, and a sumptuous ef-
feet was attained. such as. even ex-
ceedmg, that of the textiles woven in
the near east.
All this transpired before the earliest
Italian primitive of which We are now
possessed was painted, but knowing of
this development we can better rec
onclle as reasonable the sudden emer-
gence and Towering of this school of
painting To be sure with one
interim OF century or more, mosaic
murals OF pictorial sort were pro-
duced in Italy up to and even through
the golden days of the high Renais-
sance. Titan and Tintoretto both
painted cartons for mural mosaics in
San Marco. But on the whole. aener-
ally speaking. when fresco painting
came in mosaic murals went out.
HIS brings us back to Minerva, by
Vedder, in the Library of Congress,
over whose shoulder we have been
looking into the past. The method of
transcription here is none other than
1t has been down the long ages, and,
what is more, to the everlasting
credit Of Vedder be it said the design
is perfectly adapted to the medium, or
vice versa, as you please. The palette
used in this instance is simple the
range OF colors few: the design is