In St. Mark’s we have an example of the superb treatment in deepest and most Titianesque scales applied to curved forms, but to find a similarly complete example of the use of lighter tones and on flat surfaces, we must turn to Ravenna.  I can give you no adequate description of the wall mosaics of Ravenna.  In the sense of delicate color they remind me of some of the subtile harmonies of many of the finest works of the modern French school—­of the Impressionists and others who combine that quality with a true instinct for design.  In standing before them you feel that the Dagnan Bouverets, the Mersons, the Cazins, the Puvis de Chavannes, etc., of the fifth century have had a hand in the conception and realization of the beautiful compositions to be found on the nave walls of the two churches of St. Appollinare Nuovo and St. Appollinare in Classe.  Here all the scales are of delicate degrees of light tones, supreme in their beauty, completeness, and, most important to us, their true decorative instinct.  In the Baptistery we find what I may term a third essay in color, by weaving in rich, dark, and glowing colors on figures and bold sinuous forms of ornament in such a skillful and judicious manner that the whole dome seems to be alive with harmonies, although they are mostly primaries.

As you know, rules for the disposition of color are futile, yet some details that struck me as eminently satisfactory may interest you.  In all cases the tesserae are of small dimensions, about a quarter of an inch square.  The stucco joints are large and open, surfaces far from level, but undulating considerably.  The tesserae stick up in parts, brilliant edges showing.  Absence of flatness gives play to the light.  The gray of the stucco joints brings the whole composition together, serving as cool grays in a picture to give tender unity.  Gold, apart from backgrounds and large surfaces, is used very cleverly in small pieces in borders of garments, and more especially in thin outlines to make out the drawing and certain flowing forms of ornament.  Brilliant pieces of glass actually moulded at the kiln into forms of jewels add brilliancy to crowns, borders, etc.  These stick boldly out from the surface.  I noticed in the Baptistery below the springing of the dome a frieze about 2 ft. 6 in. deep, having the ground entirely in black, through which was woven in thin gold lines a delicate foliated design.  This, in conjunction with the upper surfaces in dark, rich color, had a most delightful effect.

We, as students, can learn most from the Ravenna examples, for great are the needs of light and silvery color in this country, where gray and gloomy days far outnumber those in which the sun gives liberally of his light.  I may say, in passing, as our subject is really a matter of decoration, that our nineteenth century efforts in this direction are all of a somewhat gloomy tendency.  We fill our rooms with imitations of somber Spanish