Chap. I. EARLY MOSAICS AT RAVENNA. 37 seen by the grotesque novelty of this part of their costume. 1 The angels guarding the Virgin were doubtless like those by the side of the Saviour; but, with the exception of one, they have lost all antique character under the hands of the restorer. The upper courses were filled with sixteen prophets and thirteen scenes representing the miracles of the Saviour who was no longer depicted in the fulness of age but, on the contrary, in the bloom of youth, beardless, and wearing the purple; doubtless under the impression that, to show the power of the Redeemer in this phase of his existence, it is also necessary to declare, by such means as the poverty of art possesses his innocence and freedom from guile. Amongst the miracles represented were — the cure of the sick man who takes up his bed and walks — the casting out of a devil — Peter and Andrew called from their nets, and the distribution of the loaves and fishes. These subjects like those on the opposite side of the nave were more reminiscent of the antique than the rest of the mosaics. Yet one may hesitate to give a resolute opinion as to these works as a whole, when one considers that the figures of the first course have for the greater part lost originality and that those of the upper courses though less damaged have also undergone changes. The portrait of Justinian in the organ loft is destroyed with the exception of the head and bust. The former, covered with a diadem and adorned with a couple of jewels pendant like cherries from the ears, is older, fatter and squarer than that of S. Vitale, but similar in features. Were it not presumptuous to speak of the general colour of mosaics which have suffered so severely as these from restoring, it might be said that the tones particularly in the upper courses are chosen with the knowledge of har mony and the feeling for massive light and shade which 1 Flaminio di Parma, in M e - morie storiche de’ conventi e chiese dei Frati minori della Provincia di Bologna. Parma 1760, describes these mo saics and alludes to the crowns then covering the heads of the M a g; — p. 290. In the time of Ciampini (p. 176) the Magi still had crowns as may be seen in the engraving of that author: but these heads and crowns, as Fla minio states, were even inCiampi- ni’stimepaintedrestorations. (Fla minio ubi sup. p. 292.) The heads with baronial caps are now res tored in mosaic, a proof of the nu merous successive changes which these works have undergone. The mosaics were in the hands of restorers as late as 1861.
