Photos of the Very Best Roman Mosaic Art Antiquities From All Eras & All Parts of the Roman Empire – Europe, Near East & North Africa. Photos by photographer Paul E Williams
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Photos of the Very Best Roman Mosaic Art Antiquities
Index to the biggest web photo collection of Roman mosaic from all regions of the ancient Roman Empire.
At its height the Roman Empire controlled the whole of the Mediterranean stretching north as far as northern Britain. Roman cities and villas followed the same layouts in all parts of the Empire.
Public Buildings Roman Mosaic Art
Every town had a public baths where Romans whiled away the day. The floors of the baths were covered in mosaics. Every great villa of the Roman Empire had decorative mosaics covering its floors. Even though the quality of craftsmanship of the Roman mosaics varied enormously between regions, the subject matter of the mosaics was similar in all parts of the Roman Empire.
Mythology & Gods Roman Mosaic Art
Up until the 4th century Romans were pagans and loved the stories of the Greeks Gods and their exploits. It is to be expected therefore that mythical stories were a popular theme for Roman mosaics.
Geometric Roman Mosaics Art
The Romans loved visual twists and geometric shapes and these are used in most Roman mosaics as borders of panels that contain the main narrative of the mosaic.
The intricacy of the geometric shapes in Roman mosaics is incredible. From Gordian knots that are so cleverly tied that they are impossible to untie, to 2 dimensional boxes that look like they are 3 dimensional. Coloured ropes made out of mosaic edge mosaics that fill the whole floor space of Roman Villas.
Roman African Mosaics Art
By the 3rd century AD the best makers of mosaics worked in the province of Africans, centred on present day Tunisia. The North Africa Proconsularis was a major wheat, olive oil and wine producer as it is today. The Romans who lived there grew wealthy and could afford mosaics that were of such great intricacy and richness that we still marvel them today.
The high reputation of North African mosaic artists meant that they were in demand by wealthy patron across the Roman Empire. Great villas like that of the Villa Romana de Casale in present day Sicily bear all the hall marks of north African mosaic artists.
The Roman mosaics from Lods, present day Israel, and the great Palace in Constantinople, present day Istanbul, also bear the hallmarks of the North African Roman mosaic style.
Lifestyle Roman Mosaic Art
The Romans took mosaic making to a high art and made sumptuous artworks from tiny glazed or glass tessellation’s. Often the mosaic floors of Roman Villas has survived when the buildings have been lost.
Lifestyle Roman mosaics offer a glimpse of how Romans thought, how they played and of the things that they found important. There are Roman mosaics depicting chariots races, colosseum games and theatre actors. At Villa Romana del Casale young women are depicted at an athletic games.