Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

COSMATI

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V07, Page 214 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

COSMATI , the name of a See also:

Roman See also:family, seven members of which, for four generations, were skilful architects, sculptors and workers in See also:mosaic. The following are the names and See also:dates known from existing See also:inscriptions: Lorenzo (See also:born in the second See also:half of the 12th See also:century). Jacopo (dated See also:works 1205 and 1210). Cosimo ( " 1210-1235). See also:Lucia Jacopo AdeoIdato Giovanni (1231 and 1235). (1231–1293)• (1294)• (1296 and 1303). Their See also:principal works in See also:Rome are: ambones of S. Maria in Ara Coeli (Lorenzo); See also:door of S. Saba, 1205, and door with mosaics of S. Tommaso in Formis (Jacopo); See also:chapel of the Sancta Sanctorum, by the Lateran (Cosimo); See also:pavement of S. Jacopo alla Lungara, and (probably) the magnificent episcopal See also:throne and See also:choir-See also:screen in S. Lorenzo fuori le Mura, of 1254 (Jacopo the younger); baldacchino of the Lateran and of S.

Maria in Cosmedin, c. 1294 (Adeodato); tombs in S. Maria sopra See also:

Minerva (c. 1296), in S. Maria See also:Maggiore, and in S. Balbina (Giovanni). The See also:chief signed works by Jacopo the younger and his See also:brother Luca are at Anagni and See also:Subiaco. A large number of other works by members and pupils of the same family, but unsigned, exist in Rome. These are mainly altars and baldacchini, choir-screens, See also:paschal candlesticks, ambones, tombs and the like, all enriched with See also:sculpture and See also:glass mosaic of See also:great brilliance and decorative effect. Besides the more See also:mechanical sort of See also:work, such as mosaic patterns and architectural decoration, they also produced mosaic pictures and sculpture of very high merit, especially the recumbent See also:effigies, with angels See also:standing at the See also:head and See also:foot, in the tombs of Ara Coeli, S. Maria Maggiore and elsewhere. One of their finest works is in S.

Cesareo; this is a See also:

marble See also:altar richly decorated with mosaic in sculptured panels, and (below) two angels See also:drawing back a See also:curtain (all in marble) so as to expose the open grating of the confessio. The magnificent cloisters of S. See also:Paolo fuori le Mura, built about 1285 by Giovanni, the youngest of the Cosmati, are one of the most beautiful works of this school. The baldacchino of the same See also:basilica is a signed work of the Florentine Arnolfo del Cambio, 1285, " cum suo socio Petro," probably a See also:pupil of the Cosmati. Other works of Arnolfo, such as the Braye See also:tomb at See also:Orvieto (q.v.), show an intimate See also:artistic See also:alliance between him and the Cosmati. The equally magnificent cloisters of the Lateran, of about the same date, are very similar in See also:design; both these triumphs of the sculptor-architect's and mosaicist's work have slender marble columns, See also:twisted or straight, richly inlaid with bands of glass mosaic in delicate and brilliant patterns. The See also:shrine of the See also:Confessor at See also:Westminster is a work of this school, executed about 1268. The See also:general See also:style of works of the Cosmati school is See also:Gothic in its See also:main lines, especially in the elaborate altar-canopies, with their pierced geometrical See also:tracery. In detail, however, they differ widely from the purer Gothic of See also:northern countries. The richness of effect which the See also:English or See also:French architect obtained by elaborate and carefully worked See also:mouldings was produced in See also:Italy by the beauty of polished See also:marbles and See also:jewel-like mosaics—the details being mostly rather coarse and often carelessly executed. An excellent See also:account of the Cosmati is given by See also:Boito, Architettura del medio evo (See also:Milan, 188o), pp. 117-182.

End of Article: COSMATI

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
COSMAS 		[next]
COSMIC (from Gr. Kovµos, order or universe)

Site © 2006 - Net Industries