POMPEIAN ART

THE most remarkable objects with which the interiors of Pompeii reward the labour of excavation are paintings and mosaics. Frequent mention of these branches of art will be made in the course of this work, and it seems expedient therefore to collect in a prefatory chapter such information respecting them as has been gathered by the diligence of learned men either from personal observation, or from the scattered notices of ancient writers. The subject of working in mosaic will not occupy us long. The art is still exercised with success at least equal to that of the Roman workmen, as is proved by the magnificent copies of some of the best pictures of Italian masters recently executed in the Vatican. The most remarkable circumstance connected with the practice of it in ancient times is the profusion with which mosaics were produced, insomuch that the dwellings of a second-rate town abound in specimens rich enough to be transferred to the palaces of Naples, and to be enumerated among their Most precious ornaments. The expense of such works is now so great that they are rarely to be seen even in palaces.

The mosaics of Pompeii are chiefly composed of black frets, or meandering patterns, on a white ground, or white ones on a black ground :some of them, however, are executed in coloured marbles. We may refer to Mr. Donaldson's work on Pompeii, which contains coloured drawings of several, for a better notion of these beautiful floors than our means enable us to give. In the same work are contained the plans of eight others, all elegant, and most of them intricate, taken from the suburban villa; one of which is remarkable for being surrounded by a city wall with gates and towers; probably taken from that which then existed at Pompeii. The materials of which they are chiefly composed, are small pieces of black and white marble, and red tile, some larger than others so as to take deeper hold in the mortar than the rest, and thus form a sort of bonding course, which gave stability to the whole. These were set in a very fine cement, laid upon a deep bed of mortar, which served as a base. The history of their introduction, and the method of preparing the foundation on which they were laid, are thus told by Pliny:-

Painted floors were first used by the Greeks, who made, and coloured them with much care, until they were driven out by the mosaic floors called lithostrota. The most famous workman in this kind was Sosus, who wrought at Pergamus the pavement which is called asarotus oikos, the upswept hall, made of quarrels or square tesserae of different colours, in such a way as to resemble the crumbs and scraps that fell from the table, and such-like things as usually are swept away, as if they were still left by negligence upon the pavement. There also is admirably represented a dove drinking, in such a way that the shadow of her head is cast on the water. Other doves are seen sitting on the brim of the vessel preening themselves and basking in the sun. The first paved floors which came into use were those called barbarica and subtegulanea, which were beaten down with rammers, as may be known by the name pavimentum, from pavire, to ram. The pavements called scalpturata were first introduced into Italy in the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, after the beginning of the third Punic war. But ere the Cimbric wars began, such pavements were in common use at Rome, and men took great delight and pleasure therein.

" For galleries and terraces open to the sky, they were devised by the Greeks, who, enjoying a warm climate, used to cover their houses with them; but where the rain waters freeze, pavements of this sort are not to be trusted. To make a terrace of this sort, it is necessary to lay two courses of boards, one athwart the other, the ends of which ought to be nailed, that they should not twist nor warp; which done, take two parts of new rubbish, and one of tiles stamped to powder; then with other three parts of old rubbish mix two parts of lime, and herewith lay a bed of a foot thickness, taking care to ram it hard together. Over this must be laid a bed of mortar, six fingers thick, and upon this middle couch, large paving tiles, at least two fingers deep. This sort of pavement is to be made to rise to the centre in the proportion of one inch and a half to ten feet. Being thus laid, it is to be planed and polished diligently with some hard stone; but, above all, regard is to be had that the boarded floor be made of oak. As for such as do start or warp any way, they be thought naught. Moreover, it were better to lay a course of flint or chaff between it and the lime, to the end that the lime may not have so much force to hurt the board underneath it. It were also well to put at the bottom a bed of round pebbles.

" And here I must not forget another kind of those pavements which are called Gr canica, the manner of which is this : Upon a floor well-beaten with rammers, is laid a bed of rubbish, or else broken tile-shards, and then upon it a couch of charcoal, well beaten, and driven close together, with sand, and lime, and small cinders, well mixed together, to the thickness of half a foot, well levelled; and this has the appearance of an earthen floor; but, if it be polished with a hard smooth stone, the whole pavement will seem all black. As for those pavements called lithostrota, which are made of divers coloured squares or dice, they came into use in Sylla's time, who made one at Preneste, in the temple of Fortune which pavement remaineth to be seen at this day."

It may be remarked here, that the Roman villa at Northleigh, in Oxfordshire, examined and described by Mr. Hakewill, abounded with beautiful pavements. The substratum of one of these, which had been broken, was investigated, when it was found that the natural soil had been removed to a depth of near seven feet, and the space filled up with materials which bear a near resemblance to those which Pliny recommends.

A specimen of the coarser sort of mosaic pavement is to be seen in the Townley Gallery, in the British Museum. Some very remarkable mosaic pavements have been found in Pompeii, which may truly be called pictures in mosaic, and surpass in beauty any specimens which have been found in Pompeii, which may truly be called pictures in mosaic, and surpass in beauty and specimens which have been found elsewhere.

Mosaic Picture by Dioscorides of Samos.

One of these has been drawn and described in p. 203, Part I.: it occupied the central compartment in the tablinum of the House of the Tragic Poet. Another was found in the house called the Villa of Cicero. without the walls, in April, 1762 ; which, the first and only picture of the kind which had then been brought to light, became a wonder to all who understood ancient art, and could appreciate its merits; and was esteemed one of the most precious ornaments of the royal collection. The picture represents a scene containing four masked figures, playing upon various instruments; a tambourine, cymbals, the double pipe, and the Pandean pipe; a selection not unlike the equipment of a Pandean band in modern times. The drapery is elegant and well folded, and the whole composition is excellently grouped and drawn with precision. It is formed of very small pieces of glass, of the most beautiful colours, and of various shades. The hair, the small leaves which ornament the masks, and the eyebrows, are expressed so delicately as almost to escape observation. An additional curiosity is given to this valuable relic by the name of the painter, which is worked in it at the top in black letters AIO KOYPIAH AMIO:.~. EIIOIIJ~E (Dioscorides of Samos wrought this). Winckelmann says that a good copy of this was found at Stabi , in the year 1759.