292 Observaiio?is on Mosaic, 



Among the artists employed for tliis purpose the most distiu- 

 guiihed were Paul Rossetti and Francis Zucchi. These orna- 

 nieiits were fini'shed in 1(503. In the same century John 

 Baptist (^alandra, of Vercelli, in Piedmont, who was born 

 in I086 and died in 1(544, invented a new mastic, which 

 greatly contributed to bringinj*; the art to perfection. During 

 fourteen years he executed mosaics for the church of Saint 

 Peter at Rome, and particularly the figures of the four fa- 

 thers of the church in the cu})ola, after paintings by Lan- 

 franchi, Sacchi, Romanelli, and Pellegrini. He copied also 

 the picture of the archangel Michael, by Joseph Cesari; but 

 he gave it too fine a polisli, so that it has too much reflection. 

 Afterwards various artists in mosaic endeavoured to give faith- 

 ful copies of the finest paintings ; such as that of the martyr- 

 dom of St. Petronilia, by Guerchin, in the church of St. Peter 

 at Rome; the death-bed communion of St. Jerome, by Do- 

 . meniquin, formerly in the church of Santo Girolamo della 

 Carita at Rome, but now in the Musseum of the Arts at Paris. 

 The person, however, who carried this art to its highest degree 

 of perfection was Peter Paul de Christophoris, who founded 

 iit Rome a school of mosaic in the commencement of the 

 18th century. He formed several distinguished pupils, among 

 whom were Brughio^ Conti, Coccei, Fattori, Gossone, and 

 Otlaviano. Alexis Matthioli found out, in 1730, the art of 

 making glass of a bright red colour. In modern times mo- 

 saic has been distinguished into two kinds : that of Rome, in 

 which stones of a very small size are employed, which gives 

 to works more delicacy and variety, and admits the execution 

 . of great historical paintings, in this manner the most beau- 

 tiful paintings of Raphael have been copied; and Clement VHI. 

 caused the cupola of the church of St. Peter to be decorated 

 with mosaic of the same kind. His successors continued to 

 cause other paintings, both in oil and in fresco, to be copied. 

 According to Bjornstahl, the number of shades found in 

 these mosaics sometimes exceeds 10,000. In the palace 

 Borghese at Rome there are six beautiful mosaics, one of 

 which represents Orpheus surrounded by animals : it is said 

 to be composed of 9000 pieces. The mosaic of Florence, 

 called by the Italians commesso, is executed with larger stones, 



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