quisite
shading of the colors, the brilliant though softened effect of the
group of views, the atmosphere and sky of each mingling into the
same.ethereal tint, which relieved the eye and allowed it to vest with
pleasure on the separate views: it was certainly a masterpiece. The
author never left- the Crystal Palace without passing by the table,
which always excited fresh admiration.
There
were two other mosaics, much larger than the former, and different in
style, that were remarkably fine specimens of workmanship : one was a
copy of a celebrated picture, by Guercino,—a St. John the Baptist; and
the other a portrait of Pope Boniface the Second.
A
circular table, a square slab, and a picture representing a view of
Psesturn, were likewise among the Roman mosaics in the London
Exhibition.
Dr. Chilton, of New York, has a beautiful Roman mosaic of the Pantheon, about three inches long.
In the New York Exhibition, in 1853, the large picture of Pope Pio IX., in medallion size, was much admired.
In
the Paris Exhibition, in 1855, many large works of Roman mosaics were
exhibited; one in particular, belonging to the Duke of Tuscany,
required the constant work of fourteen years, and cost 700,000 francs.
A large table in the rotunda of the panorama, of rich and elegant Roman
mosaic, cost 400,000 francs.
The famous picture of the Gampo-vacino, in Rome, by Galand, cost the artist ten years' labor.
Pietra dura, also called Florentine mosaic, consists
in the manufacture of hard stone inlaid in a slab of marble; they are,
for the most part, of the quartz species, such as agates, jasper,
chalcedony, carnelian, &c.; also, lapis lazuli, malachite, and all
such hard and colored minerals which, by their depth of color and
brilliancy of lustre largely con-
