In Germany there was some interesting intarsia made by the Elfen Brothers, of St. Michael’s in Hildesheim, who produced beautiful chancel furniture.  Hans Stengel of Nueremberg, too, was renowned in this art.

After the Renaissance marquetry ran riot in France, but that is out of the province of our present study.

The art of mosaic making has changed very little during the centuries.  Nearly all the technical methods now used were known to the ancients.  In fact, this art is rather an elemental one, and any departure from old established rules is liable to lead the worker into a new craft; his art becomes that of the inlayer or the enameller when he attempts to use larger pieces in cloissons, or to fuse bits together by any process.

Mosaic is a natural outgrowth from other inlaying; when an elaborate design had to be set up, quite too complicated to be treated in tortuously-cut large pieces, the craftsman naturally decided to render the whole work with small pieces, which demanded less accurate shaping of each piece.  Originally, undoubtedly, each bit of glass or stone was laid in the soft plaster of wall or floor; but now a more labour saving method has obtained; it is amusing to watch the modern rest-cure.  Instead of an artist working in square bits of glass to carry out his design, throwing his interest and personality into the work, a labourer sits leisurely before a large cartoon, on which he glues pieces of mosaic the prescribed colour and size, mechanically fitting them over the design until it is completely covered.  Then this sheet of paper, with the mosaic glued to it, is slapped on to the plaster wall, having the stones next to the plaster, so that, until it is dry, all that can be seen is the sheet of paper apparently fixed on the wall.  But lo! the grand transformation!  The paper is washed off, leaving in place the finished product—­a very accurate imitation of the picture on which the artist laboured, all in place in the wall, every stone evenly set as if it had been polished—­entirely missing the charm of the irregular faceted effect of an old mosaic—­again mechanical facility kills the spirit of an art.

Much early mosaic, known as Cosmati Work, is inlaid into marble, in geometric designs; twisted columns of this class of work may be seen in profusion in Rome, and the facade of Orvieto is similarly decorated.  Our illustration will demonstrate the technical process as well as a description.

The mosaic base of Edward the Confessor’s shrine is inscribed to the effect that it was wrought by Peter of Rome.  It was a dignified specimen of the best Cosmati.  All the gold glass which once played its part in the scheme of decoration has been picked out, and in fact most of the pieces in the pattern are missing.

[Illustration:  AMBO AT RAVELLO; SPECIMEN OF COSMATI MOSAIC]