Roman mosaic with geometric motifs. Byzantine Empire, Eastern Mediterranean, 5th-6th century AD.

Roman mosaic with geometric motifs. Byzantine Empire, Eastern Mediterranean, 5th-6th century AD.
Marble tesserae of various colors.
Provenance: Former gallery M.Barbie, former Felix and sons Seville Exhibited Exhibition "The Roman mosaic" Barbie Gallery in Barcelona street Juan Sebastian Bach Catalog no7.
Measurements: 128 x 130 x 5 cm.

Important Byzantine mosaic from the V-VI centuries A.D., composed of marble tesserae of various colors that form geometric motifs - diamonds, squares and rectangles fitted together - a style characteristic of the pavements of Roman villas and private buildings. The silver and amber tones are combined with great delicacy to generate a subtle sensation of volume in the forms.

The art of mosaic came to Rome from Greece, and soon became a whole industry, reaching heights of quality never seen before. It became so widespread that it became the main decoration of any Roman villa or house. In Rome, mosaics were built from small pieces called tesserae (hence the name "opus tessellatum"), cubic-shaped pieces of calcareous rocks, glass or ceramic, of different sizes. These tesserae were arranged on the surface to be decorated like a jigsaw puzzle, distributing the color and shape according to the design, and fixed with cement. The importance of mosaic manufacture is demonstrated by facts such as the facilities granted by Constantine to the mosaicists in 330 when he moved the capital from Byzantium, favoring the exodus of Greek and Roman masters to the new capital, thus laying the foundations of the famous Byzantine mosaic.