and Venice no longer imported
its material.

The old Cathedral at Torcello has one of the most perfect examples
of the twelfth century mosaic in the world. The entire west end of
the church is covered with a rich display of figures and Scriptural
scenes. A very lurid Hell is exhibited at the lower corner, in the
depths of which are seen stewing, several Saracens, with large
hoop earrings. Their faces are highly expressive of discomfort.
This mosaic is full of genuine feeling; one of the subjects is
Amphitrite riding a seahorse, among those who rise to the surface
when "the sea gives up its dead." The Redeemed are seen crowding
round Abraham, who holds one in his bosom; they are like an infant
class, and are dressed in uniform pinafores, intended to look like
little ecclesiastical vestments! The Dead who are being given up by
the Earth are being vomited forth by wild animals--this is original,
and I believe, almost the only occasion on which this form of literal
resurrection is represented.

In the thirteenth century a large number of mosaic artists appeared
in Florence, many of whose names and histories are available. In the
Baptistery, Andrea Tafi, who lived between 1213 and 1294, decorated the
cupola. With him were two assistants who are known by name--Apollonius
a Greek, which in part accounts for the stiff Byzantine figures in
this work, and another who has left his signature, "Jacobus Sancti
Francisci Frater"--evidently a monastic craftsman. Gaddo Gaddi
also assisted in this work, executing the Prophets which occur
under the windows, and professing to combine in his style "the
Greek manner and that of Cimabue." Apollonius taught Andrea Tafi
how to compose the smalt and to mix the cement, but this latter
was evidently unsuccessful, for in the next century the mosaic
detached itself and fell badly, when Agnolo Gaddi, the grandson
of Gaddo, was engaged to restore it. Tafi, Gaddi, and Jacobus were
considered as a promising firm, and they undertook other large works
in mosaic. They commenced the apse at Pisa, which was finished
in 1321 by Vicini, Cimabue designing the colossal figure of Christ
which thus dominates the cathedral.

Vasari says that Andrea Tafi was considered "an excellent, nay,
a divine artist" in his specialty. Andrea, himself more modest,
visited Venice, and deigned to take instruction from Greek mosaic
workers, who were employed at St. Mark's. One of them, Apollonius,
became attached to Tafi, and