Thursday, January 31, 2013

Palatine Chapel of Aachen Cathedral

Charlemagne's imperial cathedral dates to the late 8th and early 9th centuries and is one of the oldest churches in Germany.


The Palatine Chapel is the heart of the building and it contains Charlemagne's reliquaries. Its design was based on the Byzantine church of San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy and it has a distinct octagonal shape.


In 1870-73, Salviati adorned the dome of the chapel with golden mosaics of Christ surrounded by 24 Ancients of the Apocalypse, as designed by Belgian Jean-Baptiste de Béthune. It replaced the original mosaic of Christ Enthroned, which by the nineteenth century had been destroyed.




Sources:
Sacred Destinations
UNESCO Aachen Cathedral

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Church of St. Bridget Wavetree

This church in Liverpool was built 1868-72 by Edward Arthur (E.A.) Heffer in the style of an Italianate basilica.



A reredos of The Last Supper by Salviati from 1866 decorates the altar.



Sources:
British Listed Buildings
Wikipedia
John Bradley Wikimedia Commons
St. Bridget's Church
Joe Neary's flickr Photostream

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

St. Erasmus Chapel in Chester Cathedral

The high altar of Chester Cathedral contains a mosaic of the Last Supper by Salviati from 1876. Around 1870 during the restoration by G.G. Scott, the south aisle of the cathedral was shortened and its east end was converted into the St. Erasmus Chapel.


Designed by Clayton and Bell, the Salviati mosaics in the chapel from 1879 are dedicated to the memory of railroad contractor Thomas Brassey (1805-70) and his wife Maria Farringdon Harrison (d. 1877) by their sons Thomas, Henry Arthur (Harry) and Albert Brassey. Thomas the younger had built the Brassey Institute in Hastings.


 


Sources:
Wikipedia
Budby's flickr Photostream
Colin Sabin's flickr Photostream

Monday, January 28, 2013

Brassey Institute Hastings

Designed by architect William Liberty (W.L.) Vernon for Hastings M.P. Thomas Brassey (who in 1886 became the 1st Earl Brassey), the building - inspired by the merchant palaces of Venice - was completed 1878-80.


While the Brasseys had a private suite on the second floor, the rest of the building contained a public library, school of the arts and other areas for use by local societies. It is now used as the Hastings Central Library.



The entrance porch contains an enamel mosaic frieze by Salviati of the Bayeux Tapestry. This is perhaps a nod to not only the historic battle that took place in the city of Hastings in the 11th century, but also the family's Norman lineage which can be traced back to Brecy during the time of William the Conqueror.


Sources:
British Listed Buildings
Tiles & Architectural Ceramics Society
Archiseek
Rob Evans' flickr Photostream
Phil Sellens' flickr Photostream
Medieval Mosaic

Friday, January 25, 2013

Funerary Monument of Giulio Salviati

Brookwood Cemetery in Surrey, England contains the grave of Antonio Salviati's son Giulio Salviati who was born in Naples in 1843 and died on March 4, 1898. Misidentified as Luigi Salviati by the New York Times, the master glass maker - whose father's accomplishments were mistakenly attributed to him by the paper - had committed suicide at the age of 55.



The four sided, obelisk-like base contains the Salviati company's trademark enamel mosaics. It was erected to Giulio by his widow Henriette.



Sources:
New York Times
Murano Magic
tanyajane100's flickr Photostream
mira66's flickr Photostream

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Museum of Applied Arts Vienna

Founded by Emperor Franz Joseph in 1863 as the “Imperial Royal Austrian Museum of Art and Industry”, the Museum of Applied Arts (or MAK) was the first museum on the Stubenring when it opened in 1871. It is located on the northern edge of the famous Stadtpark or Viennese City Park.




Found between two gates on a wall connecting the museum to the University of Applied Arts next door,  a larger than life sized Salviati mosaic of the Roman goddess Minerva (or her Greek equivalent, Athena) stands above a marble fountain. The mosaic was designed by the building's architect Heinrich von Ferstel and it was completed in 1873, the year of the Vienna World Expo where it decorated the entrance to the Italian Fine Arts Court.




Sources: 
MAK Venues
MAK History
Vreni's Vienna Daily Photo 
Barr, Sheldon. Venetian Glass Mosaics: 1860-1917. New York: Antique Collectors’ Club Ltd., 2008. 128.
The Building News and Engineering Journal. Vol. 36. London: E.J. Kibblewhite, 1879. 377.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

St. Andrew's Landford

Designed by William Butterfield, this church was built 1855-58 on the site of several previous structures, some parts of which dated back to at least the 11th century.



In 1888, the building was enlarged with a new north transept and a vestry on the east.  The mosaic "Our Saviour" by the Salviati company was placed above the pulpit in 1914.



Sources:
Wiltshire Community History
Geolocation
National Archives UK

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

St. Peter's Church Notting Hill

Wedged between terraces of large, white Victorian townhouses on Kensington Park Road, this classical style church designed by architect Thomas Allom was built 1855-57.


The apsidal chancel was added in 1879 by James Edmeston and his son James Stanning Edmeston. James Edmeston's father (also James) was also an architect and taught G.G. Scott as an apprentice between 1826-31.


The apse contains a mosaic from 1880 by Salviati and Burke of Da Vinci's Last Supper with a modification to the background by Charles Barry, Jr.



Sources:
Wikipedia
bricoleurbanism's flickr Photostream
L.J. Du Kane Skolia Concert Venues
Findo's flickr Photostream
John Salmon on Geograph
Dictionary of Scottish Architects

Monday, January 21, 2013

Royal Frogmore Mausoleum

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were both buried in this private mausoleum located on the Frogmore Estate that adjoins Windsor Castle. Designed by Albert Jenkins Humbert and Ludwig Gruner soon after the Prince's December 1861 death, the Romanesque building was consecrated in December 1862.


The mausoleum's extensive interior decorations were not fully completed until 1871. However, the entrance portico's walls and ceiling of Salviati mosaics were finished by the mausoleum's consecration. With this project, Queen Victoria had given the firm the first of its numerous English commission.



One of the six angels decorating the portico's walls.


According to a 1901 article, within the interior of the mausoleum "the pendentives of the lanterns are filled with pictures executed by Salviati in mosaic".



Sources:
Wikipedia
streetr's flickr Photostream
Thomas Moore London Connections
jbbullen.com
"The Royal Mausoleum at Frogmore." Press. LVIII, 10878. January 30, 1901. 7. found at the National Library of New Zealand.
Barr, Sheldon. Venetian Glass Mosaics: 1860-1917. New York: Antique Collectors’ Club Ltd., 2008. 16.
The Royal Collection

Friday, January 18, 2013

St. Agnes' Church Newmarket

Consecrated in 1887, this small, Victorian church was designed by Richard Herbert Carpenter in the Decorated style and built in the memory of W.S. Stirling Crawfurd, Esquire by his wife, Caroline Agnes, the Duchess of Montrose.



The interior barely seats 100 people,  but the decorations above the altar - including the triple-arcaded Salviati mosaics - may be the most elaborate in all of Suffolk. The chancel on the east end contains a marble reredos, above which are the mosaics that represent the "Angelic Order" and "Heavenly Jerusalem", which were designed by John R. Clayton.



Sources:
St. Mary's and St. Agnes' Church
Suffolkchurches
James Yardley Geograph pictures
Newmarket's Personalities from the Past - VI
Pearson, Lynn. "Suffolk" in PDF format.
Barker, H.R. West Suffolk. Bury St. Edmund's: F.G. Pawsey and Co. Ltd., 1907. 278.
English Heritage
American Institute of Architects. Architectural  Record. Vol 2. New York: The Record and Guide, 1893. 81.

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Neuchatel Museum of Art and History

Located in western Switzerland, this building by architect Leo Chatelain that was constructed between 1880 and 1884 to house what was then called the Museum of Fine Arts and Museum of Painting.


The large mosaic tympanum on the facade depicts The Glorification of Art and was completed around the same time as those in the half dome of the apse of St. Stephen's Basilica in Budapest (1891-1905). While the tympanum is bare on an 1886 etching, a postcard from 1898 shows the completed mosaic, further narrowing down the date.


The facade also contains twelve medallions featuring heads representing different types of human races.

Sources:
Wikipedia
ErikDarcy's TrekEarth Photos
Adventures in Architecture
Barr, Sheldon. Venetian Glass Mosaics: 1860-1917. New York: Antique Collectors’ Club Ltd., 2008. 133 & 139.
e-Pics
Amecoleour

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Birmingham Council House

Designed by local architect Yeoville Thomason in an Edwardian Renaissance style, this building from 1874-79 houses the city council.


The facade contains a central balcony with a niche under the portico that contains a mosaic tympanum by Salviati featuring Municipality giving "Stability" to Liberty and "Power" to Law, while Science, Art, Commerce and Industry look on. The name of the mosaic is not "Brittania Rewarding the Manufactures", as that is the title of the sculpture that represents a similar scene, found on top of the building.



Sources:
British Listed Buildings
Wikimedia Commons Photo by GavinWarrin
The website of Bob Speel
British Association for the Advancement of Science. "Handbook of Birmingham." Birmingham: Hall and English Printers, 1886. 123.
Foster, Andy and George Demidowicz. Pevsner Architectural Guides: Birmingham. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005. 63.

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Exeter College Chapel

Located in the heart of Oxford, the Chapel of Exeter College was built 1856-59 by G.G. Scott and modeled after Paris' Sainte Chapelle. The "greater part of the mosaics" on the east end were the gift of Dr. George Ridding, Bishop of Southwell.



The arcaded Salviati mosaics in the apse feature familiar themes for such locations: the four Evangelists, Christ and angels, the Lamb of God and the Pelican in her Piety. An 1871 catalog called "Views of Oxford" already refers to a "mosaic altarpiece" and based upon a photograph located in the Cornell University archives, by 1885 they had all been installed.




Sources:
Wikipedia
Exeter College
Cornell University Archives
Pierrot Heritier Photos
richardr's flickr Photostream
Bach at Astoft
Taunt, Henry W. " 'A' List of of views of Oxford and the neighborhoods." Oxford Architectural Society, Third Ed. 1871. 9.
Stride, William Keatley. "Exeter College." London: F.E. Robinson and Company, 1900. 199.
Carr, William. "Oxford University College Histories." Psychology Press, 1902. 199.

Monday, January 14, 2013

St. Stephen's Basilica Budapest

Because construction took over fifty years (between 1851 and 1905), the initial designs for this church were started by Miklos Ybl, but were ultimately completed by Jozsef Hild and Jozsef Kauser. Originally meant to be dedicated to St. Leopold, the patron saint of Austria, that plan was also changed before its opening in lieu of honoring Hungary's first king.


The mosaic tympanum of 1893 located over the main entrance door is Our Lord on the Throne with Angels. It was designed by Mor Than. It is currently covered by a wire mesh to keeps birds away.


Salviati's design of "Christ in Glory" from 1893 served as a blueprint for the final mosaic.



The mosaics in the half dome of the apse featuring angels celebrating five steps in Holy Mass were designed by Karoly Lotz and Gyula Benczur and installed in 1900.


"Pictures in apse of St. Leopold's Cathedral Budapest 36 sq f each."



Additional designs from Salviati from the original plans, featuring wingless cherubs.



Sources:
Earth in Pictures
Alma Kaufmann's flickr Photostream
Budapest Christmas
Barr, Sheldon. Venetian Glass Mosaics: 1860-1917. New York: Antique Collectors’ Club Ltd., 2008. 76-79.
Vasarnapi Ujsag. Vol 47, No 46. 1900.
Wikipedia: St. Stephen's Basilica. Accessed February 11, 2022.
Erede Dr. A. Salviati & Co. Venezia Catalog. Items 129-140. "Made for St. Leopold's Cathedral Budapest. 25 sq. ft. each." After 1903. Courtesy of @Troyoz on Twitter




Friday, January 11, 2013

Christ Church Southgate

Located in greater London, this church was designed in the English Tudor style by G.G. Scott and it was built 1861-62.



Three arched gables frame the mosaic reredos of Salviati's Last Supper, which is very similar to the one found in Westminster Abbey.


Update: More detailed photographs of the mosaic reredos have been added here.

Sources:
British Listed Buildings
Christ Church Southgate
Wikimedia Commons from Christine Matthews and John Salmon

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Opera Garnier, Avant Foyer

The Palais Garnier - the iconic setting for the Phantom of the Opera - was designed in 1860 by young architect Charles Garnier and opened in 1875.


Rectangular panels of Salviati mosaics modeled after French painter Paul-Alfred de Curzon's designs can be found on the ornate ceiling panels that decorate the Avant Foyer, which looks over the Grand Staircase. The master mosaicist responsible for the work was Giandomenico Facchina (1826-1903).


The four pairs of Greek mythological gods and goddesses symbolizing love and death include:

Artemis and Endymion


Orpheus and Eurydice


Aurora and Cephalus


 Psyche and Hermes


Garnier noted in adjacent mosaic inscriptions that "decorative mosaic has been used for the first time in France for the ornamentation of this vault and the popularisation [sic] of this art."

The ceiling of the Facade Loggia is also decorated with Salviati mosaics.

Sources:
Cyril's photo on TrekEarth
fact244's flickr Photostream
Just_Bernard's flickr Photostream
Barr, Sheldon. Venetian Glass Mosaics: 1860-1917. New York: Antique Collectors’ Club Ltd., 2008. 41-44.
Ward, James. Historic Ornament. London: Chapman and Hall, 1897. 361.