Citation Information
Article Title: Mosaic
Website Name: Encyclopaedia Britannica
Publisher: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Date Published: 24 July 2017
URL: https://www.britannica.com/art/mosaic-art
Access Date: August 23, 2019
Additional Reading General works
A. Blanchet, La Mosaique (1928); E.W. Anthony, A History of Mosaics (1935, reprinted 1968); P. Fischer, Das Mosaik (1969); H.P. L’Orange and P.J. Nordhagen, Mosaikk (1958; Eng trans., 1966), deals with the history of the art from its beginnings to c. ad 900. Greek and Roman mosaic
Of the literature on Greek and Roman mosaic, the following works are of particular importance: (pebble mosaic): R.S. Young, “Gordion 1956: Preliminary Report,” Am. J. Archaeology, 61:319–331 (1957); D.M. Robinson, Excavations at Olynthus, vol. 5, 8, and 13 (1933, 1938, 1950). (pebble-tessera mosaic): C.M. Robertson, “Greek Mosaics,” J. Hellenic Stud., 85:72–89 (1965); B.R. Brown, Ptolemaic Paintings and Mosaics and the Alexandrian Style (1957); J. Chandnard, Les Mosaïques de la maison des masques (1933). (floor mosaic—Roman): Colloque sur la mosaïque gréco-romaine, Actes (1965); H.E. Blake, articles on Roman mosaics in Mem. Am. Acad. Rome, 8:7–160, 13:69–214, and 17:81–130 (1930, 1936, 1940); K.M. Phillips, “Subject and Technique in Hellenistic-Roman Mosaics: A Ganymede Mosaic from Sicily,” Art Bull., 42:243–262 (1960); R.P. Henks, Catalogue of the Greek, Etruscan and Roman Paintings and Mosaics in the British Museum (1933); D. Levi, Antioch Mosaic Pavements (1947); I. Lavin, “The Hunting Mosaics of Antioch and Their Sources,” Dumbarton Oaks Papers, no. 17 (1963). H. Stern, “Origine et débuts de la mosaïque murale,” Études d’archéologie classique, vol. 2 (1959). Early Christian mosaic
M. van Berchen and E. Clouzot, Mosaïques chrétiennes du IVe au Xe siecle (1924); G. Matthiae, Mosaici medioevali delle chiese di Roma (1967); W. F. Oakeshott, The Mosaics of Rome, from the Third to the Fourteenth Centuries (1967); H. Stern, “Les Mosaïques de l’Église de Sainte-Constance à Rome,” Dumbarton Oaks Papers, no. 12 (1958); C. Cecchelli, I mosaici della basilica di S. Maria Maggiore (1956); C. Ricci, Tavole storiche dei mosaici di Ravenna, 4 vol. (1930–37); F. W. Deichmann, Frühchristliche Bauten und Mosaiken von Ravenna (1958); G. Brusin and P.L. Zovatto, Monumenti paleocristiani di Aquileia e di Grado (1957); J.L. Maier, Le Baptistere de Naples et ses mosaïques (1964); B. Brenk, “Die ersten Goldmosaiken der christlichen Kunst,” Palette (Basel), 38:16–25 (1971), a work concerning the earliest use of gold cubes in mosaics. Early Byzantine mosaic
G. Brett et al., The Great Palace of the Byzantine Emperors (1947); C. Diehl, M. Le Tourmeau, and H. Saladin, Les Monuments chretiens de Salonique (1918); T. Schmit, Die Koimesis-Kirche von Nikaia (1927); P.A. Underwood, “The Evidence of Restorations in the Sanctuary Mosaics of the Church of the Dormition at Nicaea,” Dumbarton Oaks Papers, no. 13 (1959); M. Aviyonah and M. Schapiro, Israeclass="underline" Ancient Mosaics (UNESCO 1954–60); E. Kitzinger, Israeli Mosaics of the Byzantine Period (1965); K. Weitzmann, “The Mosaic in St. Catherine’s Monastery on Mount Sinai,” Am. Phil. Soc. Proc., 110:392–405 (1966); K.A.C. Creswell, Early Muslim Architecture, 2nd. ed., vol. 1 (1969), including K. Van Berchek, “The Mosaics of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem and the Great Mosque in Damascus”; G. Bovini, Mosaici di Ravenna (1956; Eng. trans., Ravenna Mosaics, 1956), and La vita di Cristo nei mosaici di S. Appollinare Nuevo di Ravenna (1959), B.J. Nordhagen, “The Mosaics of John VII (705–707 AD),” Acta, Institutum Romanum Nowegiae, 2: 121–166 (1965); Gunilla Å. Kerström-Hougen, The Calendar and Hunting Mosaics of the Villa of the Falconer in Argos (1974). Middle and late Byzantine
O. Demus, Byzantine Mosaic Decoration (1948), A. Graber, La Peinture Byzantine (1953; Eng. trans., Byzantine Painting, 1953); T. Whittemore, The Mosaics of Haghia Sophia at Istanbul, 4 vol. (1933–52); P.A. Underwood and E.J.W. Hawkins, “The Mosaics of Hagia Sophia at Istanbuclass="underline" The Portrait of the Emperor Alexander,” Dumbarton Oaks Papers, no. 15 (1961); E.J.W. Hawkins, “Further Observations on the Marthex Mosaic in St. Sophia at Istanbul,” ibid. 22 (1968); C.A. Mango, “Materials for the Study of the Mosaics of St. Sophia at Istanbul,” ibid. 8 (1962); P.A. Underwood, The Kariye Djami, 3 vol. (1967); E. Diez and O. Demus, Byzantine Mosaics in Greece, Hosios Lucas, and Daphni (1931); A. Grabar and M. Chaizidakis, Greece: Byzantine Mosaics (UNESCO 1960); V.N. Lazarev, Old Russian Murals and Mosaics: From the 11th to 16th Century (1966). Medieval mosaics in the West
W.F. Oakeshott, The Mosaics of Rome, from the Third to the Fourteenth Centuries (1967); O. Demus, The Mosaics of Norman Sicily (1950); E. Kitzenger, “The Mosaics of the Cappella Palatina in Palermo,” Art Bull., 31:269–292 (1949); The Mosaics of Monreale (1960); A. de Witt (ed.), I mosaici del Battistera di Firenze, 4 vol. (1954–59); H. Kier, Der mittelalterliche Schmuckfussboden (1970); A Prandi, “Pietro Cavallini a S. Maria in Trastevere,” Rivista dell’Istituto Nazionale d’Archeologia e Storia dell’Arte, 1:282–297 (1952); R. Dertel, “Wandmalerei und Zeichnung in Italien,” Mitteilungen des Kunsthistorischen Institutes in Florenz, 5:217–324 (1937–40), on the technique; F. Forlati, “La tecnica dei primi mosaici marciani,” Arte veneta, 3:85–87 (1949); Hetty Joyce, The Decoration of Walls, Ceilings, and Floors in Italy in the Second and Third Centuries A.D. (1981). Renaissance to modern