The Cosmatesque Mosaics of Westminster Abbey

by Warwick Rodwell & David S Neal Oxbow Books Oct 2019

£65 2 vols pp724 hb isbn 9781789252347

In a striking example of a propensit propensity f for archaeologists to steer clear of the most spectacular and publicly popular ancient sites, leaving the field open to poor research, assumptions and myth, this comprehensive study of Westminster Abbey’s “cosmatesque” mosaics is the first of its kind. To say they have been overlooked would be an understatement. As recently as 1976 holes were drilled through the floor of Edward i’s shrine chapel in a misguided antiquarian quest by the then surveyor of the fabric. Until the conservation described here by Vanessa Simeoni, much of the art lurked hidden under old sawdust, carpet and linoleum.

The Cosmati mosaics, which the authors argue were laid in a single campaign that began in 1260, overseen by an Italian master mosaicist called Petrus Oderisius, consist principally of two great pavements (described and analysed in volume 1) and the tombs of Edward i and Henry iii (vol 2). Other furniture includes a tomb which is here identified as containing the bodies of Edward’s two young sons, and the cover of a tomb for the French wife of Edward’s brother.

The occasion for what became seven years of immaculate and detailed recording was a programme of conservation that began in 2008. Photography had failed to do justice to the complexity of the mosaics, and in the abbey’s new belief that conservation and repair should be accompanied by ambitious research,

David Neal, brought to the site by Warwick Rodwell, the abbey’s archaeologist, was persuaded to draw them in faithful colour. Famous for a lifetime of painting Roman mosaics with intricate precision, he has here created a monumental work in its own right. Many of the books’ 550 colour illustrations are his, and the pavements are shown complete in four stunning foldouts. His intimate examinations raised new questions about the mosaics’ histories, and together with contemporary and subsequent records, comprehensive technical descriptions, petrological analyses and archaeological work including ground-penetrating radar, the books assemble a huge amount of research and information.

The outcome is stories of the mosaics’ origin, their architectural context, and how they were made and the materials used, reconstructions of the missing parts (revealed to be more extensive than had been thought), and every detail illustrated. There is a good index, and pages are helpfully numbered consecutively across the two volumes. A wonderful achievement.