Page 9 - Pavimenti cosmateschi _Neat

WESTMINSTER ABBEY in LONDON

The Cosmati were a Roman family, seven members of which, for four generations, were skillful architects, sculptors and workers in decorative
geometric mosaic, mostly for church floors. Their name is commemorated in the genre of Cosmatesque work, often just called "Cosmati". The
chief signed works by Jacopo the younger and his brother Luca is at Anagni. In the crypt at Anagni is the largest section of undisturbed Cosmatesque
flooring. Cosmatesque decoration is not entirely confined to Rome, or even to Italy. At Westminster Abbey, there are two Cosmatesque pavements,
the finest north of the Alps set in Purbeck Marble: one is the Great Pavement before the high altar, the other the paving and decor associated with the
between each rectangle. No two roundels are the same. In detail, the variations of the pattern are virtually endless.
shrine of Edward the Confessor in the Sanctuary. The design itself has a broad border, with a rectangle in the middle of each side and five roundels

The inspiration for the Cosmati pavement at Westminster Abbey is usually credited
to Richard de Ware, who was buried beneath the pavement.
In 1258 the newly elected Abbot of Westminster, Richard de Ware, left for Italy for
confirmation of his office by the Pope. The Papal court, at that time, was at Anagni.
General Description Here, or so the theory goes, he was impressed by the cosmati-style mosaic pavement
of the cathedral and conceived the possibility that his own abbey church might be
similarly beautified.
“…. saw the stunning mosaic pavements”
“…On the floor of the Nave of Anagni Cathedral was a work of Art that reflected this faith in the order of the
world: a pavement of intricate patterns, roundels, circles, hexagons, a continuous flow of quincunx, symbols -
shapes…..”
Ware revisited the papal court in early 1260 and again in early 1261, when he is likely
to have commissioned Italian marble workers – including Odoricus (named in the
pavement’s inscription) to visit England and decorate Henry III’s new abbey church.
“Henry III’s commissioning of the pavement can be seen as a reassertion of the divine right of kings - a riposte
to Simon de Monfort - other rebellious barons”.
http://www.westminster-abbey.org/conservation/interactive-map

Tombs - Ware and Wenlock
The Westminster sanctuary pavement was These two tombs contain the only existing burials in the
substantially completed in 1268, the year before pavement and form part of the original scheme dating from
Edward the Confessor’s relics were translated 1268. On the north side of the pavement is the burial of Abbot
to their new shrine. The cosmati work at Richard de Ware, Abbot of Westminster from 1258 until his
Westminster also included the base of Saint death in 1283.. On the south side of the pavement lies the tomb
of Abbot Walter de Wenlock, Ware's successor, who died in
Edward’s shrine, its altar and the paving around Central Roundel
1307.
it, and several tombs, including that of Henry
Materials around 1278-9, although the preservation of The Central
III himself for which Italian craftsmen returned
these is only fragmentary.
Roundel is part
The great pavement is 24 feet 10 inches (7
of the original
meters 58 centimeters) square, and consists of
scheme dating
geometrical patterns built up from pieces of
from 1268. This
stone of different colors and sizes cut into a
stone roundel
variety of shapes: triangles, squares, circles,
was obviously
rectangles and many others. The central
roundel is made of onyx and the pavement also
It is at the very heart of the pavement
includes purple porphyry, green serpentine and chosen for its spectacular appearance.
and is thought to represent the earth at
yellow limestone. the centre of the universe. The stone is
The geometric framework of the pavement is a travertine calcium carbonate known
made from Purbeck Marble. It is unique to find as Alabastro fiorito, a fresh water
Purbeck Marble used as the framework for a limestone from hot spring deposits and
Cosmati floor. In Italy the framework for from the Roman site of Pamukkale in
Cosmati work is always a white marble. Turkey.

The Cosmati pavement, for most of the past 150 years, has been covered under
thick layers of carpet to protect its fragile surface, but in fact just adding to the
Restoration re-dedicated by the Dean at a service on 21 May 2010.
dirt and staining until a two-year restoration brought it back to life. The
pavement undergone a major cleaning and conservation programme and was
‘A build-up of wax, polish, dirt and dust had become a brown mass, which in a way
unified the pavement,’ explains Vanessa Simeoni, the Abbey's head of
conservation, ‘We devised a technique to remove this gunk, a solvent held in paper
pulp made into a poultice. Depending on the degree of soiling we’d leave it on for
20 to 60 minutes, then with swabs and brushes take it all up.
Then we’d do it all over again!’

http://www.westminster-abbey.org/conservation
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2008/may/05/archaeology.art

8