Page:The age of Justinian and Theodora (Volume 1).djvu/254

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the interior.^[1] Accordantly it was considered that reverence for the holy scriptures was fittingly shown by the reproduction of copies in the most costly form; and hence the painting of manuscripts in miniature revived and endured as one of the staple industries of the age. But in all these cases defective drawing and perspective are often painfully conspicuous, and a meretricious display of colour seems to be regarded by the artist as the highest expression of his skill.^[2]

d. By the end of the fifth century we are on the verge of that new era in literature, introduced by the Byzantines, when to make a transcript of some previous writer was to

↑ Choricius of Gaza (c. 520) has left us an elaborate description of such a church interior and also of the frescoes in a palace. The whole has been republished by Bertrand in his work, Un art crit. dans l'antiq., Paris, 1882. Modern Greek churches are precisely similar, and those belonging to the monasteries of Mt. Athos are especially noteworthy; see Bayet, op. cit., iv, 2. Two can be inspected in London. That in Bayswater is a "Kutchuk Aya Sofia." Walsh's CP., Lond., 1838, has a good engraving; ii, p. 31. See also the striking mosaics of St. George's, Salonica (Texier and P., op. cit.), the Pompeiesque style of which suggest an early date in church building—vistas of superimposed arcades raised on a forest of fantastically graceful, but impossible columns, architecture run wild in fact.
↑ "Du moment qu'il avait exécuté une composition dans la manière antique et qu'il y avait mis toute la splendeur de sa palette, il ne se demandait pas si le dessin de ses personnages était correct ou non, s'ils se trainaient bien sur leur jambes, s'ils étaient réellement assis sur une chaise ou un fauteuil, ou simplement appuyés contre ces meubles"; Kondakoff, op. cit., i, 108. Of existing MSS. with coloured miniatures, only some six or eight date back to these early centuries. Labarte's Hist. des arts indust., Paris, 1892, with coloured facsimiles is the most satisfying work in which to study mediaeval art objectively. At South Kensington a variety of specimens are to be found, including ivories, enamels, paper casts of mosaics, reproductions of frescoes, etc., many of which go as far back as the sixth century.

[1] Choricius of Gaza (c. 520) has left us an elaborate description of such a church interior and also of the frescoes in a palace. The whole has been republished by Bertrand in his work, Un art crit. dans l'antiq., Paris, 1882. Modern Greek churches are precisely similar, and those belonging to the monasteries of Mt. Athos are especially noteworthy; see Bayet, op. cit., iv, 2. Two can be inspected in London. That in Bayswater is a "Kutchuk Aya Sofia." Walsh's CP., Lond., 1838, has a good engraving; ii, p. 31. See also the striking mosaics of St. George's, Salonica (Texier and P., op. cit.), the Pompeiesque style of which suggest an early date in church building—vistas of superimposed arcades raised on a forest of fantastically graceful, but impossible columns, architecture run wild in fact.

[2] "Du moment qu'il avait exécuté une composition dans la manière antique et qu'il y avait mis toute la splendeur de sa palette, il ne se demandait pas si le dessin de ses personnages était correct ou non, s'ils se trainaient bien sur leur jambes, s'ils étaient réellement assis sur une chaise ou un fauteuil, ou simplement appuyés contre ces meubles"; Kondakoff, op. cit., i, 108. Of existing MSS. with coloured miniatures, only some six or eight date back to these early centuries. Labarte's Hist. des arts indust., Paris, 1892, with coloured facsimiles is the most satisfying work in which to study mediaeval art objectively. At South Kensington a variety of specimens are to be found, including ivories, enamels, paper casts of mosaics, reproductions of frescoes, etc., many of which go as far back as the sixth century.

[1]

[2]