Mosaics Of The Past

Mosaic are a very simple art form, where hundreds or even thousands of very small pieces of tile (known as tesserae) or pottery are used to create larger images and pictures on floors or on walls. Mosaic techniques were first used in ancient times for both domestic and governmenatal buildings. Perhaps the most famous cultures to use Mosaic are the ancient Greeks and Romans. Modern day archeologists are still to this day uncovering intact floor Mosaic from both of these cultures.

Whilst the exact origins of Mosaic are impossible to pin point because it is likely different cultures discovered the method independantly of each other, it is thought that the earliest proponents of the method first came from the Orient. A lot more is known however about European and middle eastern Mosaics, where they were often used within religious settings.

Here is an image of a fairly simple yet ancient and beautifully preserved from the historical Jordanian site of Petra. Petra is famous for its rock cut architecture. It is also known as one of the seven wonder of the world.

As the mosaic method developed as well as being a sign of opulance for the rich and powerful, the classical mosaic also became used within the religious context of churches and chapels. Many early religious groups used the mosaic to convey religious idesa, themes and stories. Here is an example of one of these early religious themed mosiacs, a Byzantine Church Mosaic from Bucharest

In Pre Christian times, mosaics in many cultures often depicted multiple gods and mythical figures as well as important people within those cultures. the Romans would often creat artworks related to philosophers or great poets and writers. Here we see a detailed depiction of the poet Virgil, who was regarded as one of Rome's greatest ever writers and poets.

Here we can see another example of the use of ornate Mosaic in churches.
As you can see by the colours used, these would have been costly to produce, using the finest materials and tiles.Here we can see an early coloured mosaic of Christ from Hagia Sophia in Istanbul

As well as depicting people, landscapes and religious imagery, a lot of moasics are made purely of abstract repeating patterns. Perhaps it is the rhythmical, reptitive nature of creating a mosaic which lends itself to creating such regular patterns. In this image we can see a fine example of a purely abstract Roman mosaic, incorporating quite advanced geometrical shapes. The only shapes here which even vaugely reflect nature are the leaf and flower like motifs in the corners. A mosaic like this may have been created in a bath house or in the home of a wealthy Roman

Islamic countries and cultures have also embraced the art of the mosaic for adorning Mosques
and other important buildings. Unlike Christian inspired art works those which represent Islam tend to very rarely depict people or living creatures. In contrast to the figurative representations of Byzantine art, Islamic motifs are almost always geometric and mathematical. Some of the best examples of Islamic mosaic can be seen in Spain at the Great Mosque of Cordoba and at Alhambra Palace.

If you admire the beauty of these ancient Roman and Greek mosaics then you could actually have one installed in your home. A few specialist companies now produce scaled down replicas in modern hygenic materials that can be quickly installed into you home.
A large luxury bathroom for example could look superb with a replica Roman bath house mosaic.

These Ancient Mosaic Replicas come ready fixed to special webbing to make installation quite easy. Yes they are not cheap but they will surely be unique!