Early Christian mosaics
Present-day insight into the crucial early phase of this part of the history of mosaic is limited because of the loss of nearly everything that was made in the field during the first half of the 4th century. Nevertheless, as indicated above, it seems certain that wall mosaics had come into use in Roman art well before Emperor Constantine’s edict of toleration of the Christian faith in 313 ce. Considered to be among the earliest Christian wall mosaics in Rome are those in the church of Santa Costanza built about 320–330 ce as a mausoleum for ... (100 of 12,923 words)
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Mosaic floor fragment from a synagogue or church, cut stone with mortar from Israel, late 5th–6th century ce; in the Jewish Museum, New York City.
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Columns decorated by the Sumerians in a mosaic-like technique with polychrome terra-cotta cones, from Uruk, Mesopotamia, early 3rd millennium bc. In the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin.
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Greek pebble mosaic, detail from The Lion Hunt, from Pella, Macedonia, c. 300 bc.
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Dionysus on a Tiger, from the Casa del Fauno, Pompeii, 2nd century bc. In the Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples.
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Skeleton of a Cup-Bearer, from the Casa del Fauno, Pompeii, 2nd century bc. In the Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples.
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“Battle of Alexander and Darius at Issus,” detail of the Roman mosaic done in the opus vermiculatum technique, from the Casa del Fauno, Pompeii, late 2nd century bc. In the Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples.
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Roman monochrome floor mosaic, 3rd century ad; in the Portico delle Corporazioni, Ostia, Italy.
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Interior court with mosaic of Neptune and Amphitrite, from the House of Neptune and Amphitrite (1st century ad), Herculaneum, Italy.
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Mosaic floor fragment, stone tesserae from Syria, 6th century ce; in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
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Mosaic skull, Mixteca-Puebla style, from Western Oaxaca or Puebla, Mex., 1400–1521; in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.