Cosmati. Family of C12 and C13 marmorarii (workers in marble) in Rome, taking their name from the leading member, Cosma, or Cosmatus. Cosmati-work, known as Cosmatesca or Cosmatesque, consists of inlaid geometrical polychrome patterns of stone, glass, mosaic, and gilding set in marble. Good examples survive in Westminster Abbey: the pavements of the presbytery (1268) and feretory (1267–8), the base of the shrine of the Confessor (1270), and the tomb-chest (c.1280) of King Henry III (reigned 1216–72). Cosmatesque is also a style of architectural decoration deriving from southern Italian, Sicilian, and Byzantine work.

Bibliography

Hutton (1950)

Cosmati name of a family of architects, sculptors, and mosaicists living in Rome in the 13th century; Cosmati work, a style of mosaic in which marble slabs are surrounded with borders made up of small pieces of marble and glass, is named after them.