Showing posts with label St. Mark's. Show all posts
Showing posts with label St. Mark's. Show all posts

Monday, February 3, 2014

Cast Court, South Kensington Museum

Two architectural courts were designed by General Henry Scott in 1870 for the museum to house both cast reproductions of architectural elements, as well as some original pieces. The space opened in 1873. Salviati and Company made two mosaic reproductions that originally hung on the walls of the south-east Court.

The Good Shepherd is a copy of the lunette above the entrance of the Chapel of Galla Placida in Ravenna Italy originally from the 5th century.


The Salviati mosaic lunette on top right in the Weston Cast Court, 2016.


The original mosaic in Ravenna

The mosaic Figure of Christ is a copy from St. Mark's Basilica in Venice from the 13th century. It depicts the Savior giving a benediction (item 8036-1862), acquired by the museum in 1862 for 200BP, but which is now in storage. Salviati made another copy of a St. Mark's mosaic image of Christ for St. Augustine's College in Canterbury.

The museum also bought in 1864 a mosaic medallion of the head of St. John the Evangelist (item 797-1864) from Salviati for 25BP, but it is now also in storage.

Sources:
The Victoria and Albert Museum
Appell, William. Christian Mosaic Pictures: A Catalogue of Reproductions of Christian Mosaics. London: South Kensington Museum, 1877. 17.
Wikimedia Commons
Film London
Metaphor
V& A Search.
Inventory of the Objects in the Art Division of the Museum at South Kensington, arranged According to the Dates of their Acquisition. Vol. 1. London : Printed by George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode for H.M.S.O., 1868.

Thursday, September 26, 2013

St. Augustine's College, Canterbury

First serving as the Missionary College of the Church of England (1848 to 1947), and later as the Central College of the Anglican Communion (1952 to 1967), these buildings are now part of King's School.


Salviati made the mosaic of Christ that hung above the Warden's Chair in the college's Great Hall, which was used as a formal dining room. It was presented to the college by Dr. Henry Bailey, the school's second warden from 1850 to 1875, and was already in the room by 1882.


This may be the same mosaic the Venice and Murano Company showed at the 1880 Melbourne Expo.


It was an approximately 1/5th copy of the apse dome mosaic in St. Mark's Basilica, Venice shown below.



Above, the dining room today. However, the near wall that used to hold the mosaic cannot be seen, so it's current status is unknown.

Sources:
Ewell, Robert. Guide to St. Augustine's Monastery and Missionary College. Canterbury: Cross and Jackman, 1896.
Historic Canterbury
Thomson, Mortimer. The Divine Comedy of Patriotism. London: Simkin, Marshall & Co., 1882. 40.
Wikipedia
Dennis Jarvis' flickr Photostream
Summer Language School

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

St. Christopher's Chapel in the Great Ormond Street Hospital

Great Ormond Street Hospital is a children's hospital that famously received the rights to J.M. Barrie's play Peter Pan in 1929. Its chapel was designed by E.M. Barry and built 1871-76. It was moved to its present location in 1992 and reopened in 1994 by Diana, Princess of Wales.



The mosaic floor in the entrance is by Salviati and is said to be modeled after that of St. Mark's in Venice.




Sources:
Lunnon, Raymond J. The Chapel of St Christopher. NHS Booklet. London: GOS Trust, 2002. Available as a pdf file. Web. 16 February 2012.
British Listed Buildings
Victorian Web
johnevigar's flickr Photostream