*Theodoret, De provid. Orat. iv. t. iv. p. 361, quoted by E. David, Hist. de la peinture, p. 42.

PAINTING AND CALLIGRAPHY.

[CHAP. II.

of perfection: the whole history of Christ was embroidered

CHAP. II.]

MITRE OF THOMAS A BECKET.

89

rius, in his History of the Popes, has left the descrip

tion of a number of orna

ments of this kind, which the popes and emperors had given to the churches from the IVth to the IXth century, and has even recorded the style and subjects of the embroidery. These embroideries, executed in gold and silver thread upon silk stuffs of the most brilliant colours, must have produced a wonderful effect.

The tapestry of Queen Matilda, preserved in the library at Bayeux (Fig. 35), is only an embroidery in wools of various colours upon a large piece of linen; it affords a proof that this kind of painting, although on the decline with regard to drawing, was practised in France in the XIth century. We possess as a specimen of the embroidery of the XIIth, the episcopal vestments (Fig. 37) of Thomas à Becket, preserved in the cathedral of Sens. Besides, it is easy to judge by the miniatures in the manuscripts of the XIIth, XIIIth, and XIVth centuries, that the sacred ornaments, the curtains (courtines) which

surrounded the altar during the celebration of mass, and the

* Agincourt, Hist. de l'art, t. i. p. 98.

He fled to Sens 1164, when he escaped from England to avoid the wrath of Henry II. His vests, mitre, alb, girdle, stole, maniple and chasuble, are all shown

"towells "*

"* (touailles) spread over it, were made of stuffs

in the treasury at Sens. (Handbook of France).-They have been figured by M. Du Sommerard, Album, 10 series; pl. xxiv. On a visit lately paid to the treasury of the Cathedral of Sens, to see these ornaments, the colours which M. Du Sommerard has restored in his coloured engravings, were found to be very much faded.

The word "towell," as used in the old inventories, means the rich covering of silk and gold, which used to be laid over the top of the altar, except during mass. It also refers to linen altar-cloths, or is employed in the ordinary acceptation. St.

Fig. 37. King Henry VI. attended by Cardinal Beaufort, the Duke of Gloucester, and courtiers. From the tapestry in St. Mary's Hall, Coventry.

CHAP. II.]

MOSAICS.

91

enriched with figures and embroidered subjects; and also that the beds, tables, and seats in houses of the rich were covered with similar fabrics.

In addition to these figured representations, we have the written descriptions afforded us by the old inventories. Thus, we read, for example, in the inventory of the effects of the chapel of Charles V.: "Une mictre brodée sur champ blanc et est orfrasée d'or trait à ymages, et fut au pape Urbain.-La grant chapelle qui est de Camocas d' oultremer brodée à ymages de plusieurs ystoires.-Une touaille parée, brodée à ymages de la Passion sur or.-Breviaire couvert du brodures aux armes du roy Jehan quand il estait duc de Normandie." *

Not satisfied with embroidering stuffs intended for the service of the church, or the decoration of houses, the embroiderers proceeded next to execute portable pictures, which rivalled the carved and painted domestic altars. So we read in the same inventory, folio 232: "Ung tableaux de broderie òu sont Notre-Dame, sainte Catherine, et saint Jean l'évangeliste, et ung estuy couvert de veluiau vermeil."

In the XVth century, painting in embroidery had shared in the great progress which was made at that time in all the arts of design. (Fig. 38.) We may instance, as a fair specimen of that period, the ornaments for the use of the chapel of Charles the Bold, duke of Burgundy, which are preserved in the cathedral of Berne.†

This style of painting was still cultivated in the XVIth and XVIIth centuries, in the last century it had been almost abandoned.

Few pieces of embroidery remain to us, and the colours. of those which have been preserved, are much faded by time.

§ VI. PAINTING IN MOSAIC.

By mosaic, is understood the art of producing a design or painting by the combination of small pieces of hard or

George's Chapel, Windsor :-"Item, a blest Towell for the High Altar, of black silk, with gold stripes. Item, a Towell of white silk, with gold stripes."

* MS. Bibl. roy., no. 8356, folios 106, 110, 119, 279.

+ See Anciennes tapisseries historiées, texte par Achille Jubenal, gravures par Victor Sansonetti, Paris, 1838. In this splendid work, the tapestries of Berne, Bayeux, Nancy, La Chaise-Dieu, &c., are all given in coloured plates.

hardened substances, either naturally or artificially coloured. Hard stones, marbles, pastes of glass, are the materials most frequently used in this kind of work.

Mosaic painting was practised by the ancient Asiatic nations; the Greeks excelled in the art, and transmitted its processes to the Romans. It was originally designed for the decoration of the pavement of buildings, but it soon sought to rival oil painting, and usurped its place in the embellishment of walls, and the vaulted ceilings of churches.

Fig. 38. Justinian and Theodora. Mosaic of the VIIIth century.
Church of St. Vitale, Ravenna.