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Cosmatesque, or Cosmati, is a style of geometric decorative inlay stonework typical of the architecture of Medieval Italy, and especially of Rome and its surroundings, and derived from that of the Byzantine Empire. It was used most extensively for the decoration of church floors, but was also used to decorate church walls, pulpits, and bishop's thrones. The name derives from the Cosmati, the leading family workshop of marble craftsmen in Rome who created such geometrical decorations. The style spread across Europe, where it was used in the most prestigious churches; the high altar of Westminster Abbey, for example,〔The Guardian, Maev Kennedy, ''Carpet of stone: medieval mosaic pavement revealed'' ()〕〔(BBC - The Culture Show - Cosmati Pavement )〕 is decorated with a cosmatesque marble floor. == Description and early history == The Cosmatesque style takes its name from the family of the Cosmati, which flourished in Rome during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries and practiced the art of mosaic. The Cosmati work has this peculiarity, that it is a glass mosaic used in combination with marble. At times it is inlaid on the white marble architraves of doors, on the friezes of cloisters, the flutings of columns, and on sepulchral monuments. Again, it frames panels, of porphyry or other marbles, on pulpits, episcopal chairs, screens, etc., or is itself used as a panel. The color is brilliant — gold tesserae being freely used. While more frequent in Rome than elsewhere, its use is not confined to that city. Among other places it is found in the Cappella Palatina in Palermo. Just what its connection may be with the southern art of Sicily has yet to be determined.〔excerpted from ''A dictionary of architecture and building, biographical, historical, and descriptive'' by Russell Sturgis (1836-1909), published 1901 and out of copyright ()〕 Although the Cosmati of 12th Century Rome are the eponymous craftsmen of the style, they do not seem to have been the first to develop the art. A similar style may be seen in the pavement of the Benedictine abbey of Monte Cassino (1066-1071), built using workers from Constantinople, making it likely that the geometric style was heavily influenced by Byzantine floor mosaics. However, the technique is different because Cosmati floors were made from many different size and shape pieces of stone, a technique quite different from opus tessellatum mosaics where the patterns are made from small units which are all the same size and shape. The stone used by the cosmati artists were salvaged material from the ruins of ancient Roman buildings, the large roundels being the carefully cut cross sections of Roman columns.〔Paloma Pajares-Ayuela ''Cosmatesque Ornament'', p.255〕 According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, this style of inlaid ornamental mosaic was "introduced into the decorative art of Europe during the twelfth century by a marble-worker named Laurentius , a native of Anagni, a small hill-town thirty-seven miles east-south-east of Rome. Laurentius acquired his craft from Greek masters and for a time followed their method of work, but early in his career developed an original style. Freeing himself from Byzantine traditions and influences, Laurentius's style evolved into a decorative architectural mosaic, vigorous in colour and design, which he employed in conjunction with plain or sculpted marble surfaces. "As a rule he used white or light-coloured marbles for his backgrounds; these he inlaid with squares, parallelograms, and circles of darker marble, porphyry, or serpentine, surrounding them with ribbons of mosaic composed of coloured and gold-glass tesseræ. These harlequinads he separated one from another with marble mouldings, carvings, and flat bands, and further enriched them with mosaic. His earliest recorded work was executed for a church at Fabieri in 1190, and the earliest existing example is to be seen in the church of Ara Coeli at Rome. It consists of an epistle and gospel ambo, a chair, screen, and pavement. "In much of his work he was assisted by his son, Jacobus, who was not only a sculptor and mosaic-worker, but also an architect of ability, as witness the architectural alterations carried out by him in the cathedral of Civita Castellana, a foreshadowing of the Renaissance. This was a work in which other members of his family took part, and they were all followers of the craft for four generations. Those attaining eminence in their art are named in the following genealogical epitome: Laurentius (1140-1210); Jacobus (1165-1234); Luca (1221-1240); Jacobus (1213-1293); Deodatus (1225-1294); Johannes (1231-1303)."〔Catholic Encyclopedia, ''Cosmati Mosaic''. ()〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Cosmatesque」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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