The Art of Mosaic in the Middle Ages

By: Amanda Tran

What Is Mosaic?

Mosaic is a form of art that has been used for thousands of years. It is a form of art commonly used by the Romans of the Middle Ages, and still used today. Mosaic is the art of collecting small pieces/shards of glass, stone, or pebble and arranging it to form one large image on a bed of wet plaster, adhesive, or, typically, a bed of wet cement which will eventually dry and become mosaic.

How Is It Used?

Mosaic was widely used back in the medieval times. It was made to add style to plain old walls, ceilings, and floors of the wealthy residents. Scenes on the mosaic are mostly of historic events, and sometimes for decorative purposes like the one below.

History of Mosaic

You’ve probably heard about many different kinds of mosaic, but did you know this common form of art originated in Ancient Greece? Yes, it is true, but you may not have known that because when mosaic was found, it spread very quickly throughout Medieval Europe by travelers, and merchants. Therefore, there are many different unique versions of mosaic, such as, Byzantine Mosaic, or, mosaic if the Byzantine empire, and many others, which, this brief PowerPoint presentation will talk about.

Types of Mosaic

Mosaic art was a popular form of art back in the medieval times. It spread quickly throughout Europe with many different versions. The next few slides will tell you about the art of mosaic, in many different ways.

Byzantine Mosaic

In the Byzantine Empire, they made mosaic out of special glass tesserae called smalti. Whereas the Romans mostly covered the floors of their homes with mosaic, the byzantine specialized on covering walls and ceilings, like the picture below.

Right: Beautiful Byzantine-style

mosaic art cover the ceiling and

walls of a mosque in Mihrad.

Christian Mosaic

Early Christians used mosaic mostly for religious purposes.Mosaics were used by Christians to decorate cathedrals, and churches. Mosaics commonly depicted important events from the bible, and Christ. Although some were just for decorative purposes.

Ravenna During the 5th century, Ravenna, Italy, capital

of the Western Roman Empire, became the center of late roman mosaic art. Most mosaics in Ravenna told stories or true events that happened in their life, but not necessarily important events in history. The next slide will talk about what happens when the Byzantine Empire conquers Ravenna, Italy.

Conquering of the Byzantine Empire

After 539, Ravenna was conquered by the Byzantine Empire. The greatest development of Christian mosaic art unfolded in the 2nd half of the 6th century. Brilliant examples of Byzantine mosaic Are the later phase in mosaics in the Basilica of San Vitale, Roman Catholic church, and the Basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, a Basilica church in Ravenna. The next couple slides will be showing picture examples of the mosaics inside these churches.

Basilica of San Vitale

Here is a picture example of beautiful mosaics on the walls of the Basilica of San Vitale, a Roman Catholic church in Ravenna, Italy in the times of the Byzantine Empire.

A brilliant portrait of

Emperor Justinian I

(right), and his wife

Empress Theodora

with her attendants

(left). (Mosaics from the Basilica of San Vitale).

Basilica of Sant’apollinare Nuovo

Below is an inside look of the mosaics of the Basilica of Sant’apollinare Nuovo, a Basilica church.

(left) “For the love of bread and Fishes”6th century Byzantine mosaic art from the wall of the church. The artist is unknown, but the title and topic is very interesting. . . (right) Brilliant mosaics of the Byzantine Empire cover the ceiling and walls of the Basilica church.

Rome in the High Middle Ages

The last great period of Medieval Roman mosaic art was the 12th – 13th century, which was when Rome developed their own, unique and distinctive style, free of strict rules of the typical eastern tradition, and with more realistic portrayal of figures. Because of their new and unique techniques, they received high praises for their work. The next slide will show an example of late Roman mosaic art.

Bibliography"Mosaic." Wikipedia. Web. 12 Oct. 2011.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosaic>.

Alchin, Linda K. "Middle Ages." The Middle Ages. 16 July 2008. Web. 15 Oct. 2011. <http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/>.

Closing Credits. . .

Hello, my name is Amanda Tran. . . And I am the author of this brief-ish PowerPoint presentation. A Little Bit About Me I was born Aug. 18th, 1999 in Newport Beach hospital in California. Out of my 2 other siblings, I am the middle child. My current after-school activities are tennis, and piano. My favorite one is tennis at Eugene Swim and Tennis Club. My favorite vacation spot is The Bahamas. I also like California, which is where I go about 1/6 out of the year, every year. One of my Most favorite memory was going on the Disney Cruise last spring break, which was really fun.

This is me in Tech class! :D