Illustration: Matthew Digby Wyatt. Linings from Monreale Cathedral, Sicily.
The image that illustrates this article comes from Matthew Digby Wyatt's 1848 publication Specimens of the Geometrical Mosaic of the Middle Ages with a Brief Historical Notice of the Art Founded on Papers Read Before The Royal Institute of British Architects, The Royal Society of Arts and The Archaeological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland to give it its original, pithy Victorian title.
Although Owen Jones The Grammar of Ornament, which was published eight years after Digby Wyatt's, was perhaps the most famous British version of this style of historical reference publications regarding decoration and ornament, it was by no means on its own. A whole range of books, pamphlets, journals and magazines were produced throughout the nineteenth century, but particularly during the mid-nineteenth century period. Many dealt with medieval themes of which Britain seemed at some point to have a near monopoly.
Publications covered a whole range of subjects and semi-themes within the framework of medievalism, from intense architectural details, guides to practically every medieval church in the British Isles, to the much larger theatre of Europe where medieval decoration, ornamentation and pattern work was studied, sometimes at first hand, but often through secondary analysis. All tended towards as detailed an examination and evaluation of the subject matter that was available in their own contemporary world and many publications in whichever format, are still reliable and relevant to this day.
Digby Wyatt's 1848 publication took on a more generalised though still specific subject of geometrical medieval mosaic work. As with many of the publications during this period, there was a dependency on a seemingly scientific process, a form of colour analysis in particular which seems relatively pedantic, certainly by today's often broader and some would even say coffee table style generalizations. However, Digby Wyatt, Jones and others felt that there was, beneath each decorative style or form of ornament, a standardised procedure that would explain in rational language the workings of that specific style. This meant that in many respects decorative pattern work and ornament could be rationalised and understood, not merely to copy, but to re-interpret through the underlying laws and procedures for a contemporary setting. In many ways, nineteenth century publications dealing with the historical dimension of decoration, were never meant as convenient formats in which to plagiarise past eras, but were in fact meant as practical tools in which to analyse styles for reinterpretation, or even reimagining, which entailed an entirely different approach to the subject. However, many authors, probably including Digby Wyatt, were well aware that wholesale copying from their publications was an everyday factor of the genre, which they had to accept, but it was hoped that at least a portion of student, designer and decorator would be able to understand and follow the analysis of each decorative era.
Digby Wyatt's Specimens of the Geometrical Mosaic of the Middle Ages although seeing to deal with the medieval as surmised in the title, did in fact comment on the larger history of the mosaic craft. The book was conveniently split into three sections, classical, medieval and contemporary. The classical section was clearly based on mosaic work from various areas and regions of the Roman Empire where many saw mosaic work as being one of the outstanding achievements of classical Roman decorative arts. This section was followed by the medieval, where selections of mosaic work were chosen mainly from Italian regions and included work from St Marks in Venice, St Vitale in Ravenna, the Cappella Palatina in Palermo and the cathedral of Monreale from which the illustration for this article was taken. The mosaic work from Sicily in particular was associated by Digby Wyatt with both the Norman and Islamic periods and so was therefore considered to entail some of the best work of both medieval Christian and Islamic disciplines.
The contemporary section dealt with mid-nineteenth century ceramic examples and experiments by a largely British selection including Minton's. However, the entire book, from classical through to medieval and into contemporary experiments, was meant as an inspirational and detailed analysis of the uses that could be made of an ancient and skilled craft. Digby Wyatt stated in the 1848 book that 'To the architect, mosaic affords the most durable, and probably the most beautiful, means of adding to the charms of well-studied and varied form of the graces of colour; it enables him to study the graces of polychromy on the largest scale, and by the aid, too, of a series of the most fully developed experiments; it offers to him in its simple geometrical character a variety of design almost unparalleled in decorative resources,- one that harmonises alike with the severer forms of monumental style, and the more free and graceful peculiarities of domestic and social requirement.'
In many respects, Digby Wyatt saw his publication not so much as a reference to the past, but as a reference for the future. He valued the aspects of previous mosaic work and saw no hindrance in the use of the same techniques and formats into which a contemporary minded world could still use and creatively produce work that was just as relevant and just as inspirational for future generations to continue the process of analysis and interpretation for a modern audience.
Further reading links:
The Byzantine and Romanesque Court in the Crystal Palace, Described by M.D. Wyatt and J.B. Waring
Fine Art; A Sketch of Its History, Theory, Practice, and Application to Industry
***RE-PRINT*** The history, theory, and practice of illuminating
The Italian Court in the Crystal Palace (Crystal Palace Library Guides)
The Art of Illuminating: As Practised in Europe from the Earliest Times Illustrated by Borders, Initial Letters, and Alphabets
The Mediaeval Court In The Crystal Palace (1854)
An Architect's Note-Book in Spain principally illustrating the domestic architecture of that country.
Italian Mosaics: 300-1300 (Prequel to Italian Frescoes)
The Mosaics of St. Mary's of the Admiral in Palermo (Dumbarton Oaks Studies)
The Medieval Mosaics of San Marco, Venice: A Color Archive (Chicago Visual Library)
The Mosaics of San Marco in Venice (2 Volumes in 4) (Pts. 1 & 2)
Mosaics of Norman Sicily
Venetian Colour: Marble, Mosaic, Painting and Glass, 1250-1550
LATE ANTIQUE AND MEDIEVAL MOSAICS IN ITALY
Roman Mosaics: Over 60 Full-Color Images from the 4th Through the 13th Centuries
Mosaics of the Greek and Roman World
