![]() Smalti were also made with gold and silver leaf, layered between two pieces of glass. With a surge in Christianity, mosaic art turned to religious subjects and the walls of churches, temples, and palaces displayed colorful intricate designs made with smalti, deeply colored glass tiles with uneven surfaces. Many are on display at the Hatay Archaeological Museum in Antakya.īy the late fifth century, with the fall of the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire came into power. An excavation in Antioch (Antakya, Turkey) revealed one of the largest collections of mosaic floors from the second century A.D. Marble tiles became a popular choice for floor mosaics and styles ranged from geometric patterns to bucolic scenes. The mosaics at Pompeii are an excellent example of the styles and types of designs the Romans preferred. These mosaic tiles of small uniform pieces made it much easier to create intricate designs.Īs the Roman Empire expanded, mosaic art grew with it. Mosaic art was further defined with the introduction of tesserae, pieces of stone and glass cut into small squares. Smooth river rocks, with smaller pebbles used to fill in the gaps and create more detailed designs, were used to form floors and pathways. Six centuries later, mosaic floors-a precursor to the tile floors of today-were widespread among the Greek nobles. The pebble mosaics added art and design to an area and provided some protection during inclement weather. With an abundance of sand and soda, and with years of mastering the art, Egypt created much of the glass for the Roman nobles.īy the eighth century B.C., mosaics of random patterns were being assembled from black and white pebbles in Gordium (Gordion, Turkey). ![]() that glass production would advance to a higher art form in Egypt. It wasn’t until the Roman Empire took control of Egypt in 31 B.C. ![]() The stones were added to wall pieces and inlays, usually in funerary art. Very small pieces of dull-colored glass were used to make mosaic jewelry and mosaic stones. Small pieces of glass in mosaics were first used by the Egyptians during the New Kingdom (c. In citing other resources, Moorey presents evidence that the mosaics were “patterned after rugs and mats hung as decoration on walls,” and that the decorations protected the walls from “wind and water erosion.” Moorey concludes that the cone mosaics, also found at other settlements in Mesopotamia, show that “the intimate relationship of protection and decoration is evident in most uses.” Moorey-British archeologist and historian, specializing in the Ancient Near East-wrote, “At Urak, the decorative cone mosaics were particularly applied to free-standing columns and to walls with buttresses and recesses.” ![]() In Ancient Mesopotamian Materials and Industries: The Archaeological Evidence (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994), P. The primitive patterned designs of the early cone mosaics added a decorative element to the pillars of ancient buildings, but the cones served another purpose. Gordium (Gordion, Turkey), and the multi-textured Greek, Roman, Byzantine, and Italian mosaics that followed. This ancient cone mosaic art was a predecessor to the glass mosaic art of Egypt, the black and white pebble mosaics in eighth century B.C. Around 3000 B.C., mosaic designs were created with clay cones imbedded, point first, into columns of the Stone Cone Temple in Urak, in Mesopotamia. ![]() In its modern form, mosaic means a mixture or montage, a design created by a composite of shapes but its ancient beginnings are of function and design. ![]()
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