Sosos

Sosos was a renowned mosaic artist from ancient Pergamum, a significant Greek city in Mysia, now modern-day Turkey. He flourished around the 3rd century BCE and is celebrated for his ability to create "fool-the-eye" (trompe l'oeil) effects in his artwork.12

While none of Sosos' original works survive, Roman copies provide insight into his skill. His most famous pieces included a depiction of drinking doves and a clever imitation of a banquet room floor, known as the "unswept floor" (asarotos oikos). These works demonstrated his mastery of shading and coloring, giving his art a lifelike, three-dimensional quality that pushed the boundaries of illusionism in art. Pergamum itself was a center for mosaic art during the Hellenistic period.2