mosaic

Introduction
Principles of design
Materials
- Stone
- Glass
- Other materials
Techniques
Periods and centres of activity
- Ancient Greek and Hellenistic mosaics
- Roman mosaics
- Early Christian mosaics
- Byzantine mosaics
  - Early Byzantine mosaics
  - Middle Byzantine mosaics
  - Late Byzantine mosaics
- Medieval mosaics in western Europe
- Renaissance to modern mosaics
- Pre-Columbian mosaics

References & Edit History Related Topics

Images & Videos

Plate 14: Apse mosaic of Germigny-des-Pres, near Orleans, France, 9th century.

At a Glance

mosaic summary

Related Questions

How did Byzantine craftsmen contribute to the mosaics of the Great Mosque at Damascus?
How did Byzantine influence shape the mosaics of Cappella Palatina in Palermo?
How did Byzantine mosaic techniques influence the mosaics of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem?
How did Jeanne Reynal emphasize texture in her abstract mosaics?
How did Juan O’Gorman use mosaics on the library of the National Autonomous University of Mexico?
How did Palaeologian Renaissance mosaics change the use of colour and tessera size in Byzantine art?
How did Renaissance mosaics become increasingly like paintings?
How did angled tesserae make Byzantine haloes appear luminous?
How did artists at Olynthus create detailed images with pebbles?
How did lead wire and terra-cotta strips help Greek mosaic artists add details?
How did modern mosaic artists experiment with found objects and larger materials?
How did mosaic artists in Hagia Sophia brighten dark areas with gold tesserae?
How did mosaics begin to be used on Roman walls and vaults?
How did mosaics transform the interior walls of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo?
How did natural stone tesserae affect the appearance of faces and hands in Byzantine mosaics?
How did opus tessellatum differ from opus vermiculatum?
How did opus vermiculatum create detailed mosaic images?
How did preparatory sketches guide the placement of tesserae in wall mosaics?
How did the Romans turn mosaic from an exclusive art into a common form of decoration?
How did the pebble mosaics at Pella improve on earlier Greek mosaic floors?
How did the separation between designers and tessera setters affect Renaissance mosaic art?
How does mosaic art differ from inlay work?
How does the indirect method of making mosaics work?
How large is the Battle of Issus mosaic from the Casa del Fauno?
How were Roman mosaic floors prepared to prevent cracking?
How were central floor panels called emblemata made and installed at Pompeii?
How were gold and silver used in the mosaics of Áyios Geórgios in Thessaloníki?
How were walls prepared before wall mosaics were installed?
What features distinguish the mosaics of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna?
When did cut tesserae begin to replace pebble mosaics?
Where can large Roman black-and-white floor mosaics be seen at Ostia?
Where was the Battle of Issus mosaic discovered?
Where were some of the earliest known pebble mosaic floors discovered?
Which Byzantine rulers appear in the famous mosaic panels at San Vitale in Ravenna?
Which Renaissance artists supplied designs for mosaics at St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice?
Which materials have been used to make mosaic tesserae?
Who designed the mosaic facade of the Teatro de los Insurgentes in Mexico City?
Why are tesserae used in mosaic art cut into regular shapes?
Why did Mexico use mosaics on the exteriors of public buildings during the 20th century?
Why did Renaissance artists object to the gold backgrounds common in Byzantine mosaics?
Why did Roman mosaic artists often use simpler patterns and fewer colours for large floors?
Why did mosaic art decline after the fall of Byzantium?
Why did mosaic artists apply mortar in small daily patches?
Why did mosaic become the leading pictorial art in the Byzantine Empire from the 4th through the 14th centuries?
Why did opus tessellatum become especially useful for large wall mosaics?
Why did the indirect method become widely used during the 20th century?
Why is opus vermiculatum called wormlike work?

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External Websites

CiteSeerX - MOSAIC: A fast multi-feature image retrieval system
Art in Context - Roman Mosaic ï¿½ An Overview of Ancient Roman Mosaic and Tiles
World History Encyclopedia - Mosaic

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Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.

mosaic - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

mosaic

art

Written by

Frederick O. Waage

Professor of the History of Art and Archaeology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, 1945–71. Author of Prehistoric Art and others.

Frederick O. WaageAll

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Britannica Editors

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

Britannica Editors

Last updated

Oct. 4, 2026 •History

mosaic, in art, decoration of a surface with designs made up of closely set, usually variously coloured, small pieces of material such as stone, mineral, glass, tile, or shell. Unlike inlay, in which the pieces to be applied are set into a surface that has been hollowed out to receive the design, mosaic pieces are applied onto a surface that has been prepared with an adhesive. Mosaic also differs from inlay in the size of...

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