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Pictures Made of Stone: Short History of Unpainted Pictures

Mosaic is visual art done by assembling coloured cubic glass and stones to form an image. It was once used as a decorative in many homes in the Ancient period up to the Medieval Era. It also has a spiritual and religious significance as shown in churches.

The earliest examples were found in a temple building in Mesopotamia and dated around the Third Millennium BCE. During that time, shells and ivory were used to form the picture.

Greek Floors

In the 1920’s, an excavation done in Olynthus revealed that many rich citizens of the place had their floors covered with different scenes of everyday life. These designs were similar to those of carpets. The artists used black and white rounded pebbles for the background and figures respectively. To enhance the effect, they included few stones of different colours.

By the next century, the use of small cubes began, since they wanted to improve their output. Sometimes, glass was present in their works. Later, they had the tesserae (square blocks) cut smaller, and there was little limit to what they could produce.

Roman Empire

The Hellenistic world was also known for these images. In fact, they also brought these to Italy. As a result, the people of Rome studied and copied existing patterns. Soon enough, these were seen in rich villas, even in Sicily and North Africa.

Early Christian Era

The bishop of Aquileia commissioned artists to fill the floor of his parish church with pictures depicting the story of Jonah. Soon, these were also used on walls.

One of the well-known images of the time dates back to the year 390. It shows Jesus on a throne with the Apostles on both sides. Other prominent scenes were also found in the church of Saint Mary Major wherein two rectangles above rows of columns in the structure depict scenes of the Old Testament. The arch right above the altar shows the Virgin Mary in regal attire, seated on a Throne.

Ravenna

The Byzantine kings adorned the holy structures in this place with glittering mosaic, which clearly gave the message that what was once a pagan empire had finally accepted Christianity as one of the recognised religions. By this period, a lot of scenes from the life of Christ served as inspiration.

The history of this art form is a long one and primarily focused on religious themes since these are used for purposes of worship.