- The Roman Mosaic was an art form used during the Roman Republic (509-27 BCE) and the Roman Empire (27 BCE- 576 CE).
- They were displayed in private and public buildings, both on the floors and the walls.
History
- The first known Mosaic was found in a Temple in Mesopotamia and dates from the 3rd Millenium BCE.
- The Ancient Greeks used small stones to create Mosaics with elaborate patterns, as did the Ancient Syrians.
- However, it was the Ancient Romans who perfected the technique of using same sized glass or tile cubes to reproduce elaborate scenes and depict persons and creatures from mythology or ordinary life.
Construction
- The mosaics were made from small same-sized cubes or blocks of tile, glass, stone or other material, known as Tesserae.
- The mosaics could be either multi-coloured or just in black and white.
British Museum
- Room 49 of the British Museum holds Mosaics found in Roman Britain.
Villa Romana del Casale
- The Villa Romana del Casale is a Roman Villa rustica located near Piazza Armerina in Sicily. It dates to the 4th century CE and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
- It contains one of the greatest collections of Roman Mosaics and Frescoes.
Bardo Museum
- Located in Le Bardo, Tunis.
- The Bardo National Museum of Tunis houses one of the largest collection of Roman Mosaics in the world.
- They were excavated from Roman villas in Carthage, Hadrumentum and Utica.
Opus Sectile
- Opus Sectile was a technique used in the Ancient Roman World where materials were cut into pieces, then inlaid into floors and walls to create pictures.
- It is different to the Roman Mosaic technique, because the individual pieces vary in size and can be quite large.
Bardo National Museum. Tunis