| The history of mosaic goes back some 4,000 years | | | | found in Ravenna, Venice and Sicily and in Istanbul. |
| or more, with the use of terracotta cones pushed | | | | Islamic mosaic art In the west of Europe, the Moors |
| point-first into a background to give decoration. By | | | | brought Islamic mosaic and tile art into the Iberian |
| the eighth century BC, there were pebble | | | | peninsula in the 8th century, while elsewhere in the |
| pavements, using different coloured stones to create | | | | Muslim world, stone, glass and ceramic were all used |
| patterns, although these tended to be unstructured | | | | in mosaics. In contrast to the figurative |
| decoration. It was the Greeks, in the four centuries | | | | representations in Byzantine art, Islamic motifs are |
| BC, who raised the pebble technique to an art form, | | | | mainly geometric and mathematical. Examples can be |
| with precise geometric patterns and detailed scenes | | | | seen in Spain at the Great Mosque at Cordoba and |
| of people and animals. | | | | the Alhambra Palace. In Arabic countries a distinctive |
| By 200 BC, specially manufactured pieces ("tesserae") | | | | decorative style called zillij uses purpose-made |
| were being used to give extra detail and range of | | | | ceramic shapes that are further worked by hand to |
| colour to the work. Using small tesserae, sometimes | | | | allow them to tessellate (fit together perfectly to |
| only a few millimetres in size, meant that mosaics | | | | cover a surface). |
| could imitate paintings. | | | | In the rest of Europe, mosaic went into decline |
| Many of the mosaics preserved at, for example, | | | | throughout the Middle Ages, although some tiling |
| Pompeii were the work of Greek artists. | | | | patterns in abbeys, for example, used mosaic |
| The mosaic shows the god Neptune with Amphitrite | | | | effects. In the 19th century there was a revival of |
| (on the right) and is in Herculaneum, Italy. It is a wall | | | | interest, particularly in the Byzantine style, with |
| mosaic which uses pieces of glass to give the vivid | | | | buildings such as Westminster Cathedral (left) and |
| colours and reflect light. Glass was not suitable for | | | | Sacre-Coeur in Paris. |
| floor mosaics. Here, the tesserae were mainly small | | | | The Art Nouveau movement also embraced mosaic |
| cubes of marble or other stone. Sometimes bits of | | | | art. In Barcelona, Antoni Gaudi worked with Josep |
| pottery, such as terracotta, or brick were used to | | | | Maria Jujol to produce the stunning ceramic mosaics |
| provide a range of colours. | | | | of the Guell Park (below) in the first two decades of |
| The expansion of the Roman Empire took mosaics | | | | the 20th century. These used a technique known as |
| further afield, although the level of skill and artistry | | | | trencadis in which tiles (purpose-made and waste |
| was diluted. | | | | tiles) covered surfaces of buildings. They also |
| If you compare mosaics from Roman Britain with | | | | incorporated broken crockery and other found |
| Italian ones you will notice that the British examples | | | | objects, a revolutionary idea in formal art and |
| are simpler in design and less accomplished in | | | | architecture. |
| technique. | | | | Found objects have been used as mosaic materials in |
| Typically Roman subjects were scenes celebrating | | | | a range of ways, for example in Victorian shell |
| their gods, domestic themes and geometric designs. | | | | grottoes and "putty pots", where china and other |
| The inter-twined rope border effect here is called | | | | items (buttons, toy figures etc) are stuck to a base |
| "guilloche". | | | | with linseed putty. This kind of collage of personal |
| Byzantine mosaics With the rise of the Byzantine | | | | objects with connections to everyday life is also |
| Empire from the 5th century onwards, centred on | | | | sometimes called "memoryware". |
| Byzantium (now Istanbul, Turkey), the art form took | | | | A very influential site has been La Maison Picassiette |
| on new characteristics. These included Eastern | | | | (in Chartres, northern France), the idiosyncratic work |
| influences in style and the use of special glass | | | | of Raymonde Isidore between 1938 and 1964. |
| tesserae called smalti, manufactured in northern Italy. | | | | As a middle-aged manual worker, he covered his |
| These were made from thick sheets of coloured | | | | entire house and garden with intricate mosaics of |
| glass. Smalti have a rough surface and contain tiny air | | | | broken crockery. His nickname ("Picassiette") came |
| bubbles. | | | | from a French expression meaning a "scrounger": This |
| They are sometimes backed with reflective silver or | | | | expression - "pique assiette" - is the name given |
| gold leaf. | | | | today to this very popular style of mosaic. |
| Whereas Roman mosaics were mostly used as | | | | Modern mosaics Mosaic is in a healthy state in the |
| floors, the Byzantines specialised in covering walls and | | | | early 21st century, despite a tendency for it to be |
| ceilings. The smalti were ungrouted, allowing light to | | | | thought of as more the work of craftspeople than |
| reflect and refract within the glass. Also, they were | | | | artists. Perhaps this is a difficulty in accepting the fact |
| set at slight angles to the wall, so that they caught | | | | that mosaics often have a dual function, for example |
| the light in different ways. The gold tesserae sparkle | | | | as flooring, and also because it is a very accessible, |
| as the viewer moves around within the building. | | | | non-elitist form of creativity. The field is rich with |
| Roman images were absorbed into the typical | | | | new ideas and approaches, and organisations such as |
| Christian themes of the Byzantine mosaics, although | | | | the British Association for Modern Mosaic and The |
| some work is decorative and some incorporates | | | | Society of American Mosaic Artists exist to promote |
| portraits of Emperors and Empresses. | | | | mosaic. BAMM has an excellent list of sources on |
| The mosaic here is from the ceiling of the baptistery | | | | ancient mosaics. The worldwide web gives access to |
| in Florence, Italy. Other spectacular examples can be | | | | a great many artists working in this medium. |