Ancient Mosaics

After perusing the topics, I came to the decision that I wanted to learn more about the history of mosaic making. 

When I went to Italy in 2011, I saw Ancient Roman mosaics in Pompeii and I was amazed at how intricate they were. I decided I wanted to find out more about how they were made and how difficult the process. Roman mosaics typically depicted scenes of gods and various geometric designs. Some patterns were even given their own names. (Humby, 1) The word mosaic originates from a few different forms of the Latin word musa, meaning to reflect or be absorbed in thought, because mosaics have been known to reflect light. (Harper, 1)

I've created a document with pictures of mosaics we saw on our trip. The link is here.

The oldest mosaics were made from small pebbles, usually only in black and white. They were typically used for floor and footpaths, and originated from Greece. As time went on, the tradition of mosaic making spread through Europe and walls and floors everywhere were covered in the mortar-pebble masterpieces. (History, 1) People began to realize that their mosaics needed a little more color, and started using more of a variety of colored stones. In 200 B.C., specially shaped pieces, called tesserae, were manufactured.

 
Because of the very small size of these pieces, mosaics began to closely imitate paintings, but with a bit of a sharper look. Wall mosaics used pieces of brightly colored glass in order to reflect light, but it seemed that these glass pieces were not suitable for floor mosaic (Mahy, 1). The tesserae used in floor designs were made of small cubes of marble or other stones. Sometimes terracotta or brick were used for color. The expansion of the Roman Empire increased the popularity of mosaics, but decreased the expertise. For instance, mosaics from Roman Britain are not nearly as intricate as those from Rome. (Humby, 2)

Mosaic art, though it originated thousands of years ago, is still fairly common in the 21st century. Artists from America and the United Kingdom are finding new ways to create mosaics. Now, in addition to flooring and wall designs, mosaics are created, simply, as a form of creativity (Humby, 3).


The most interesting thing I learned through this project, is that even though mosaics look very complex on the surface, they all come down to forming simple geometric shapes (Lobell, 2). Mosaics created by very good craftspeople could pass as paintings from far away, but once you get closer and examine the product in small pieces, you can see that they are simply made by putting colored pieces of stone or glass in a pattern. It does take a lot of skill to turn simple patterns into a painting-like picture, though.

For my product, I decided that I wanted to create my own mosaic. I started by looking at mosaic patterns in the book, and sketching out some of the most common patterns. I realized that I didn't have exactly the materials I needed, so I improvised by taking multicolored rocks I had collected from the beach in the past year or so, and glued them to a tile in a pattern. I experimented with colors and patterns for a long time before deciding I was satisfied. Pictures of my product in progression can be found here.

Sources
Source 1: Humby, Rod. "The History of Mosaic Art - Mosaics in the Ancient World."The History of Mosaic Art. The Joy of Shards Mosaics Resource, n.d. Web. 18 Dec. 2014.
Source 2: LOBELL, JARRETT A. "Mosaic Masterpiece." Archaeology 67.3 (2014): 34-37. Academic Search Elite. Web. 21 Dec. 2014.
Source 3: "History of Mosaic Art." History of Mosaic Art. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Dec. 2014.
Source 4: Mahy, Carine. "Mosaic." Ancient History Encyclopedia. N.p., 28 Apr. 2011. Web. 18 Dec. 2014.
Source 5: Harper, Douglas. "Online Etymology Dictionary." Online Etymology Dictionary. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Dec. 2014.