MOSAIC. — In Latin *opus musivum* (*opera musae*, in CIL, VIII, 1323), in Greek μύσα, μουσάκου, μουσάκου, and later *metallica*. It is a painting executed with small cubic tesserae or dice (*abaculi*) of stone, glass paste, marble, or terracotta by workers whom the Theodosian Code distinguishes as *tessellarii* and *musivarii* (CIL, IV, 4502 and 7044). Sometimes the artist is called *musearius* (CIL, III, 1934 sg.). In the inscription of Felix IV (526–30) in S. Stefano Rotondo, the term *musivo* appears (G. B. De Rossi, *Inscr. christ. Urbis Romae*, II, 1, Rome 1888, p. 152, no. 32).
Later, the expression *metalla* is found, as in the SS. Cosmas and Damian under Felix IV (526–30): *aula Dei claris radiata speciosa metallis*, or under Honorius I (625–38) in S. Agnes: *virginis aula micat variis decorata metallis*; or even *metallum*, as in the oratory of S. Venantius from the time of John IV (640–42). With the expression *metalla*, sometimes—as in the cited inscription of Felix IV at SS. Cosmas and Damian—it is understood not only gold and enamels of the gleaming *m.*, but also works in *opus sectile* of marble or tessellated marble, i.e., marble panels with inlays, carvings, and friezes of porphyry, serpentine, etc., of which notable examples survive in the chapel of SS. Rufina and Seconda in the Lateran Baptistery and in S. Sabina (G. B. De Rossi, *I m. cristiani*, Rome 1899, tavv. II, III, XI, XII, XV, XVIII, XXXIX).
The origin is certainly Eastern, and mosaic art was spread by the Greeks, who had attained great perfection in this craft. The mosaic decoration was applied to the wall over a layer of plaster, on which outlines were first indicated with a stylus while still fresh, then sketched in either sanguine (e.g., at S. Maria Maggiore) or in a single color (e.g., at S. Lawrence in Milan) or in various colors; afterward, the small tesserae were embedded in the plaster layer. R. Kanzler observed outlines in red color traced with a brush on fresh plaster in the cemetery of Praetextatus and in red and black in that "inter duas lauros" (*Osservaz. sulla tecnica dei m. nei cimiteri crist.*, in *N. Bull. arch. crist.*, 4 [1898], pp. 209–11). Even in the earliest known Christian mosaics, discovered in a mausoleum of the Roman necropolis beneath the Constantinian Basilica in the Vatican, tesserae of various sizes were set into a plaster layer 3–4 cm thick, on which the subjects had been lightly but precisely outlined in different tones of color (B. M. Apollonj Ghetti, A. Ferrua, E. Josi, E. Kirschbaum, *Esplorazioni sotto la confessione di S. Pietro in Vaticano*, Vatican City 1951, p. 41). In the mosaics of the arch of S. Maria Maggiore, the tesserae are irregular, mostly cubic, between 7 and 10 mm on a side, with uneven concave surfaces, all of Alexandrian glass enamel of various kinds; they offer an abundant palette consisting of 33 shades of blue, 39 of green, 9 tones for flesh in warm hues and 5 in cool tones, and great variations in opacity. The size of the tesserae varies. Christian mosaics generally use larger tesserae than secular ones: G. Wilpert noted that in Rome the *abaculi* for faces do not generally exceed 2 mm² in surface area, while those for clothing reach up to 8 mm²; at Ravenna, however, the former can reach 3 mm². At Thessalonica, in the dome of S. Demetrius, 40,000 tesserae were counted per square meter, and for the entire dome 34,000,000 were required. Later, in the abbey of Germigny-des-Prés (Loiret), 130,000 tesserae were used. The enamels generally consist of a mixture of silicates of lead, calcium, and potassium, with a slight glaze of calcium phosphate, thus colored. Gold enamels have a special working process: a very thin gold leaf is applied to the glass surface, which is then heated to deposit the molten enamel upon II. At Parenzo and at S. Irene in Constantinople, the gold ground is formed of very closely set enamels, not laid flat but tilted forward at an angle of about 30° to prevent reflection.
The artists of S. Maria Maggiore demonstrate great technical skill and refined decorative sense in the proportions of the figures. In the ancient Basilica Ursiana in Ravenna, four artists worked: Eusebius and Paul for the mosaic decoration of the women’s wall, while Satius and Stephen for that of the men’s wall (Agnellus, *Liber pontif. eccl. Ravennatis*, in *MGH*, *Script. rerum Langobard.*, I, p. 280).
The themes found in the apses of Roman basilicas are: in the apse of the ancient Vatican Basilica, Jesus Christ teaching among the princes of the Apostles; in S. Pudenziana, Christ in majesty among the Apostolic College, the heavenly city, the four animals of the Apocalypse, the Church from the circumcision and from the Gentiles (Wilpert, *Mosaiken*, tavv. 42–44). At SS. Cosmas and Damian, the Lord, standing, no longer seated, receives the martyrs presented by the princes of the Apostles, and the founder Pope Felix IV (526–30) appears; or the martyrs approach the Redeemer seated on the globe, as in the Pelagian mosaic of S. Lawrence and in S. Theodore, or among angels as in the oratory of S. Venantius (G. B. De Rossi, *I m. cristiani*, Rome 1899, tavv. 15, 16, 17, 19). At S. Agnes, the martyr occupies the place of Jesus Christ, between the two Pontiffs who glorified her tomb, Symmachus and Honorius I (ibid., tavv. 18). From the description by St. Paulinus of Nola, F. Wickhoff attempted a reconstruction of the apse mosaic (*Das Apsis-mosaik in der Basilika des hl. Felix zu Nola*, in *Röm. Quartalschr.*, 3 [1898], pp. 169 ff.). On the triumphal arch, the throne with the cross, the crown, and the purple, i.e., the *insignia Christi*, between Peter and Paul (Wilpert, *op. cit.*, tavv. 70–72), as in S. Maria Maggiore, or the bust of Jesus Christ between the four animals or the twenty-four elders of the Apocalypse, as at S. Paul (G. B. De Rossi, *I m. cristiani*, tav. 13). Later, as at SS. Cosmas and Damian, instead of the bust, the exaltation of the Divine Lamb is depicted. In S. Paul, the ceiling beams were covered with gold mosaic; Prudentius attests that inside, all the light is golden as at sunrise, and the arches are all covered with magnificent and varied glass mosaics like the flowers that enamel the meadows in spring (*Peristephanon*, XII, 50–54). Beyond the mosaic cycles of the basilicas of Milan (v.), Parenzo (v.), TIRANNA (v.), Constantinople (v.), one should also recall those in S. Matrona.
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**MOSAIC — Floor mosaic of the 4th century — Bethany.**
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**MOSAIC — Part of recently discovered mosaics (4th–5th centuries) — Milan, Church of S. Lorenzo.**
Near S. Prisco at Capua Vetere (Wilpert, *Mosaiken*, tavv. 74-76) Casaranello (v.) in Apulia, in Thessalonica (v.), etc., and at Mount Sinai in the convent of St. Catherine. The golden mosaic decoration gave rise to the naming of various churches, such as S. Martino in *caelo aureo* at Ravenna (now S. Apollinare Nuovo), S. Pietro in *caelo aureo* at Pavia, S. Vittore in *caelo aureo* near S. Ambrogio at Milan, S. Germain-le-doré (St-Germain-des-Prés) at Paris, and the *Ecclesia deaurata* (la Daurade) at Toulouse. Eteria recalls that Constantine adorned the sacred buildings of Jerusalem with golden, mosaic, and precious marble decorations (P. Geyer, *Itinera Hierosolymitana* [CSEL, 39], Vienna 1898, p. 76). In a synodal letter sent to Emperor Theophilus, it is recounted that St. Helena had depicted on the west façade of the basilica of Bethlehem the Nativity of the Lord and the Epiphany (Ch. Bayet, *Recherches pour servir à l'hist. de la peinture chrét. en Orient avant la querelle des images*, Paris 1879, p. 77); however, this is not the primitive basilica but that of the 6th century (Revue bibl., 43 [1936], pp. 544, 555-57 and 569). The *traditio legis* theme, some biblical scenes, and apostles bearing crowns are reserved for baptisteries, as seen in the two baptisteries of Ravenna (Wilpert, *Mosaiken*, tavv. 78, 1; M. Van Berchem and J. Cluzot, *Mosaïques chrét. du IVe au IXe siècle*, Geneva 1924, p. 172, fig. 219) and at Naples (Wilpert, *op. cit.*, tavv. 33, 1-2; 34-35).
In Gaul, at the beginning of the 6th century, on the hill dominating the left bank of the Seine, Clovis began, at Paris, the basilica in honor of the apostles Peter and Paul, completed by Clotilde, who was buried there alongside Clovis. The building was decorated with mosaics depicting patriarchs, prophets, and martyrs; it later took the name of St. Genevieve and was burned in 857. Also in Paris, Childebert began in 542 the basilica in honor of the Holy Cross and the martyr St. Vincent of Saragossa; the construction was completed in 558 and was dedicated by St. Germanus, from whom it then took its name (St.-Germain-des-Prés). It was so resplendent with mosaics that, according to Fortunatus’ expression, it shone without the need of the sun: *atque suis radiis et sine sole micat*. At the beginning of the 6th century, Bishop Avitus adorned the baptistery of Vienne with mosaics, and in 583, Agricola adorned the basilica and baptistery of Chalon-sur-Saône. At Toulouse (v.), a church was called *de la Daurade* (mid-6th century) for the splendor of its golden mosaics, of which only a 17th-century written description survives by the monk Odon-Lamothe (Paris, Bibliothèque nationale, ms. lat. 12608).
At Autun, at the end of the 6th century, Queen Brunhilde transformed the church of S. Martino into a sumptuous basilica adorned with mosaics, which inspired the bishop Desiderius of Auxerre in the following century to embellish his basilica in honor of St. Stephen. Nantes (v.), the basilica erected by Bishop Felix (567). The baptistery of Damasus in the Vatican Basilica was adorned with mosaics and contained the scene of the Good Shepherd with the flock, described by Prudentius (*Peristephanon*, XII, 39-44), as in the ancient Lateran Baptistery; there are also the rich decorations of the baptisteries of Albenga (v.), Naples (Wilpert, *Mosaiken*, tav. 30 sgg.), and numerous ones in northern Africa, Sbeitla (v.) Timgad (v.) in Numidia.
In the Christian catacombs, mosaic decoration was little used; examples exist in Rome in the catacombs of Bassilla, Callisto, Pretestato, Priscilla, and in that “inter duas lauros”; in Naples in S. Gaudioso, in cubicula and arcosolia; sometimes on tiles, such as the Jonah scenes found in a catacomb on the Via Latina, now in the Lateran Christian Museum, or for epigraphs, as in the catacomb of Pamphilus (v. MARTIRIO E MARTIRE, col. 243). Portraits of the deceased were also executed in mosaics, such as those of Fl. Iulius Iulianus or Maria Simplicia Rustica, found in the catacomb of S. Lorenzo in 1656, now in the Lateran Christian Museum. Mosaic cladding was also widely used on open-air tombs in northern Africa and in Tarragona, Spain; an example is found near Teano (v. GALVI E TEANO, DIOCESI DI), now in the Museum of S. Martino in Naples. Mosaic decoration was also employed to adorn Christian mausoleums, such as the small 3rd-century Christian cell in the Vatican necropolis, the mausoleums of St. Constance, St. Helena, and that of Cencelles near Tarragona. It was then widely used in the pavements of cemetery buildings, such as the basilica of S. Felice near Nola erected by St. Paulinus, the cemetery basilicas of Africa, Salona, Sabaria, etc. The floor mosaic (*Λυθόστροτον*) is called *opus tessellatum* at Aquileia, Brescia, Setif, Trieste, and Verona; the expression *tessellavit* is employed. Often such polychrome cladding, like a dazzling carpet, was offered by the faithful as a votive gift, as attested by inscriptions from Aquileia, Brescia, Grado, Pola, Verona, Vicenza in Italy, and Setif in northern Africa. Floor mosaics have been discovered in large numbers, in addition to the places already mentioned, in Bethlehem, in the Constantinian octagon and the Nativity Grotto (5th century), Palestine (v.), especially at Madaba (v.); at Ravenna in S. Vitale, at Parenzo, at Orsera, at Zuglio Carnico, in S. Apollinare in Classe; throughout proconsular Africa, Byzacena, Numidia, Mauretania, Tripolitania, Cyrenaica, and Syria. Enrico Josi
**Christian mosaics from the 7th to the 13th century.** — With the introduction and predominance of Eastern forms, the classical tradition lost its last footholds, and mosaic art began to take on new aspects. In S. Agnese and in the oratory of S. Venanzio at the Lateran, executed during the time of John IV (640-642) with depictions of Dalmatian martyrs, there is a persistence of a local individual tradition in the characterization of faces, as in the mosaics of the apsidiola of S. Stefano Rotondo and in S. Sebastiano at S. Pietro in Vincoli, works from the mid-7th century. At the beginning of the 8th century, thanks especially to the Greek John VII (705-707), a particular artistic revival is noted in Rome, as in the New Testament mosaic cycle of the oratory dedicated to the Virgin by the same pope, now dispersed in various locations: in S. Marco in Florence; in the cathedral of Orte; and in Rome in the Vatican Grottoes and in S. Maria in Cosmedin. The new technique is characterized by the accentuation of outlines and the use of marked luminous harmonies with brown lines that detach the figures from the golden background. This technique foreshadows that typical of Roman mosaics of the 9th century, whose first complete manifestation is found on the triumphal arch of the church of SS. Nereo ed Achilleo. The mosaic of Leo III, with scenes of the Annunciation, the Transfiguration, and the Virgin with the Child, asserts a new manner in which white predominates over blue, and shadows furrow the faces, albeit still very attenuated. More harmonious compositions are offered by the triumphal arch and the apse of S. Maria in Domnica, a work of Paschal I (817-824). The procession of the elders toward the enthroned Christ within the luminous mandorla and the white host of angels, who bow slightly before the Theotokos, accentuate the contrast of light against the dark tones of Christ and the Virgin. In S. Prassede and in S. Cecilia in Trastevere, the mosaicist drew on the figurations of the apse of SS. Cosma e Damiano, but without that plastic vigor and that admirable interplay of light. More restrained and harmonious is the chapel that the Pope erected in the same church for
**MOSAIC** — Hunting scenes, Mosaic decoration of the Chamber of Roger (12th century) — Palermo, Royal Palace.
You will bury your mother Teodora. A most exquisite carpet of tesserae covers every space of the apse and walls, and the light reflects in the small space, animating the series of figures, scenes, and the great charitable angels who, beneath the vault, support Christ within a golden crown. Neither the apse mosaic of S. Cecilia, nor that of S. Marco (827-44), which repeat the scheme of SS. Cosma e Damiano, can be compared to the compositions of S. Prassede.
In the East, from the 9th century, the second golden age of Byzantine art begins, that of the great mosaics of S. Sofia in Salonicco and S. Sofia in Constantinople. Even if the forms are at first contaminated, as in S. Sofia in Salonicco, by deformations of Syrian art, already in the church of Hosios Lukas in Phocis (late 10th century) all the characteristics of the mosaics of S. Sofia in Kiev, the Catholicon of Dafni, dedicated to the Koimesis of the Virgin like the homonymous church of Nicaea, and in the Nea Mone of Chios, are announced.
In the 10th and 11th centuries, new characteristics emerge, which synthesize the monumental solemnity of Byzantium and the tormented vision of the barbarian world. Thus in Sicily, Venice, Parenzo, and Torcello, where the two currents, the Eastern and the Roman, persist with their own elements mixed with the new, until they merge in that wonderful crucible of forms that is the Venetian decoration of S. Marco.
In Rome, the traditional current reasserts itself in the apse mosaic of S. Clemente at the beginning of the 12th century, where, alongside the acanthus scrolls of the classical style, appear the scene of Calvary, the Eternal Father, the Apostles, the saints, the Prophets, the Eucharistic Christ and the triumphant Christ, the little sheep, the holy cities, and the symbols of the Evangelists.
The apse mosaics of S. Maria in Trastevere and of S. Francesca Romana, almost contemporary yet different in the artists who executed them, show the persistence of the same manner. But the dryness and harshness of the forms in S. Francesca Romana find no counterpart in the soft drapery of the figures in the Trasteverine Basilica. Meanwhile, in Sicily, under the patronage of the Norman kings, within the brief span of sixty years, an immense profusion of tesserae adorns the walls of S. Maria dell’Ammiragliato (or della Martorana) PERGAMO (v.), Cefalù (v.), all dating between 1140 and 1160, Monreale (v.) at the end of the 13th century.
The mosaics of S. Marco in Venice span the period from the 11th to the 13th century, though it is agreed that they are the work of different masters, some Byzantinizing but with marked regional characteristics, others purely adhering to the Eastern courtly style. The first manner perhaps includes the Stories of Genesis narrated in the narthex and certain mosaics of the interior (the scenes of the Life of the Virgin, the symbolic Virtues in the dome of the Ascension, and the Passion scenes of the nearby great arch), which recall the magnificent Last Judgment of the cathedral of Torcello and, to a lesser extent, the Madonna in Glory with Two Angels in the apse of S. Giusto in Trieste. The pure forms, on the other hand, are linked to the dome of the Pentecost (less so to the other lateral one), the fine group in the internal lunette of the main portal, the scenes of the arch towards the right transept, etc. More severe and less mannered are the Virgin in the apse of S. Maria e Donato in Murano and the Christ in Glory in Torcello, in the apse of the chapel of the Sacrament.
In the 13th century, the blending of Byzantine forms with the new Romanesque trends becomes ever more frequent. Not even the new wave of Byzantinism, brought to Rome by the Venetian musicians of Honorius III (1218), will have serious consequences in this evolutionary process. This can be seen in the mosaic medallion of Jacopo and Cosmas in the portico of Civita Castellana, in the Virgin on the altar of the chapel of S. Zeno in S. Prassede, in the fine Madonna of Clemency in S. Maria in Trastevere (mid-13th century), and, finally, in the apse mosaic of the Liberian Basilica (1295), where Jacopo Torriti announces, in the garb of the most classical Byzantinism, the new conception of Cavallini. Torriti’s mosaic, commissioned by Nicholas IV, is the most complete work of this master. In the apse conch, Christ and the Virgin enthroned in a star-studded globe: around them stand ranks of angels, saints,
The greater part narrates the Stories of the Founding of the Basilica and composes a Christ in Majesty between a cortege of Saints. His manner is one of acanthus scrolls, and above, a polychrome fan; on the lower face: the Annunciation, the Nativity, the Purification; the Adoration of the Magi and the Dormition of the Virgin. In every scene, in every zone, he has used two qualities of tesserae: splendid those of the cauliculi and the garments of the figures; muted, without reflections, those of the faces. Thus arises a chromatic plasticity of strong effect. Inferior to Torriti is Filippo Rusuti, who in the mosaics on the façade of S. Maria Maggiore narrates the Stories of the Founding of the Basilica and composes a Christ in Majesty between a cortege of Saints. His manner is nonetheless close to Cavallini, of whom he was a pupil, and in certain shading of faces, a Romanesque consciousness is already mature in him. To Cavallini (v.) belong mosaics composed by him in the lower zone of the apse of S. Maria in Trastevere: these are also, in chronological order, the last great Roman and Italian mosaic composition.
During the 14th century, the art of mosaic is practiced ever less for ancient themes (Naples, S. Restituta, mosaic by Lello da Velletri) or used as a decorative element of architectural features (Andrea Orcagna, mosaics later largely redone, on the façade of the Orvieto Cathedral). So too in the 15th century, when Mantegna and Gianbelli do not provide cartoons for mosaics intended to complete the cycles of the basilica of S. Marco in Venice. For this building, during the 16th century, other mosaicists, now mere craftsmen, copied onto mosaic painted canvases with aims quite different from those proper to the mosaic art, works by Tintoretto and Veronese, while even in the 18th century, Leopoldo del Pozzo, a Roman, copied in mosaic a painting by Sebastiano Ricci depicting the arrival of the body of S. Mark, and in the 19th century, Liborio Salandri the Last Judgment by Lattanzio Querena seen in the center of the façade.
Meanwhile, in Rome, Raphael, in 1516, had a composition of his translated into mosaic for the lantern of the dome of the Chigi Chapel in S. Maria del Popolo, and then Baldassarre Peruzzi did the same for the vault of the chapel of S. Elena in the church of S. Croce in Gerusalemme. But even these, like those that followed, represent nothing more than a careful but mechanical reproduction, in a technique different from that in which those works of art were born. The same can be said of most cases of the works produced still during the 19th and 20th centuries by the Vatican mosaic school (funerary shrine of Pius IX in S. Lorenzo fuori le Mura, etc.). However, in recent times, some artists have sought to restore mosaic to its original function as a decorative element clearly distinct in character from fresco painting. Thus Guido Cadorin in the mosaics of S. Giusto in Trieste and Ferruccio Ferrari in a mosaic on the façade of a house in Tivoli. — See plates CII–CIV.
Cemetery mosaics:
P. Gaucker, Mosaiques tombales d’une époque de martyrs à Tabarka, in Mon. Piot. 13 (1907), pp. 175-227;
Byzantine mosaics:
D. V. Ainalov, M. del IV e V sec., St Petersburg 1895; id., I fondamenti ellenistici dell’arte bizantina, 1900;
J. Richter-A. C. Taylor, The golden age of classic christian art, London 1904;
O. M. Dalton, Byzantine art and archaeology, Oxford 1911;
A. Colasanti, L’arte bizantina in Italia, Milan 1913;
Ch. Diehl, Manuel d’art byzantin, 2 voll., 2nd ed., Paris 1926;
H. Peirce-R. Tylor, L’art byzantin, 1913;
R. Rie Talbot, Byzantine art, Oxford 1935;
S. Bettini, Appunti per lo studio dei m. portatili bizantini, in Felix Ravenna, 1938, no. 1;
W. Lowrie, Art in the early Church, Washington 1947;
O. Demus, Byzantine mosaic decoration, London 1948;
For Tunisia:
I. Poinsost-R. Lantier, L’archéol. chrét. en Tunisie, in Atti III Congr. intern. di arch. crist., Rome 1934, pp. 387-400;
For Rome:
A. Venturi, M. cristiani in Roma, Rome n.d.;
L. De Bruyne, Nuove ricerche iconografiche nei m. dell’arte trionfale di S. Maria Maggiore, in Riv. arch. crist., 13 (1936), pp. 239-69;
P. Ducati, L’arte in Roma dalle origini al sec. VIII, Bologna 1938;
For Ravenna:
C. Ricci, Ravenna, Bergamo 1913;
S. Muratori, I m. di S. Vitale a Ravenna, 1914;
For Sicily:
S. Bottari, I m. della Sicilia, Catania 1943;
F. Di Pietro, I m. siciliani dell’età normanna, Palermo 1946;
O. Demus, The mosaics of Norman Sicily, London 1949;
R. Salvini, M. medievali in Sicilia, Florence 1949.