Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-00230-1 - Mosaics of the Greek and Roman World Katherine M. D. Dunbabin Excerpt More information Introduction MOSAICS ARE among the most durable forms of dec- their own right, one that illuminates the evolution of pic- orative art to have survived from antiquity. They appear torial, figurative and ornamental style and composition first in the Greek world in the form of pavements using over an unbroken span of more than one thousand years. natural pebbles set in a bed of plaster or mortar; the earli- Given the fragmentary nature of our evidence for most est decorated examples in Greece belong to the late fifth comparable media, above all for most of the development century bc. The more familiar form, composed of small of major painting during this period, this continuity itself near-cubic pieces of stone (known as tesserae) set into offers an invaluable contribution to our knowledge: in no mortar, was developed in the Hellenistic period between other branch of the pictorial arts is it possible to follow the third and second centuries bc; it was adopted in Rome through hundreds of examples the development from the and Italy, and spread in the following centuries through- late Classical period to the late Antique. Moreover the out the Roman Empire. Pavements of this type have been figured scenes offer an extraordinary range of informa- found by the hundred thousand in buildings of the tion about the visual culture of those who commissioned Roman period from northern Britain to Libya, from the them. The majority of mosaics are found in domestic Atlantic coast to the Syrian desert. They are sometimes contexts, and belong to the realm of the private and quo- regarded as one of the identifying features of Roman pres- tidian rather than that of official state-commissioned art; ence in an area, so closely is the peculiar technique asso- not infrequently they can be seen as reflections and con- ciated with the spread of Roman culture – although it is veyors of the social preoccupations and interests of their occasionally also found outside the actual limits of the owners. empire. The basic structural character of mosaics and the The opening chapters of this book contain a predomi- technical methods of laying them remained constant once nantly diachronic study of the evolution of mosaics; start- the use of tesserae had developed, with only minor ing with the appearance of pebble mosaics in Greece, they changes throughout the centuries into the early Middle cover the development of the mosaic of regular tesserae Ages. Their appearance, however, could vary enormously, and the extraordinarily fine pictorial mosaics that aim to ranging from plain monochrome floors through simple imitate the effects of painting, which are characteristic of designs in two colours, usually black and white, to the the Hellenistic period. These forms were adopted in Italy most elaborate of polychrome geometric patterns, to in the late second and first century bc, alongside locally designs based on floral and vegetal motifs, and to figured established forms of pavement. Around the turn of the scenes. These in turn could range from simple designs first century bc to the first ad a huge expansion in the use using isolated figures to highly ambitious narrative com- of mosaic took place in Italy, changing it from a compara- positions. Mosaics could also serve as the support for tively rare luxury craft to a much more mass-produced written texts, ranging from single words to quite lengthy and widely diffused form. Workshops multiplied, not verses. only within Italy but in the provinces of the western The study of mosaics accordingly permits a variety of Roman Empire, where the use of mosaics was introduced approaches. On the one hand they are artisan works in the course of the first and early second centuries ad, serving a practical function, closely linked to their archi- presumably at first by immigrant Italian craftsmen. This tectural context. Wherever possible they should be diffusion brings an end to any unitary development, and studied within that context, as a constituent part of a it becomes possible to distinguish regional trends and building: the mosaic removed from its setting and exhib- styles, though cross-fertilisation between different areas ited in a museum, often on a wall instead of its original persists. In the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire location on a floor, has lost much of its essential character. the picture is further complicated by the survival of On the other hand they constitute a significant art form in Hellenistic traditions into the second and third centuries 1 © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-00230-1 - Mosaics of the Greek and Roman World Katherine M. D. Dunbabin Excerpt More information Introduction ad, and their gradual transformation both by fashions stylistic transformations and of the different require- from the west and by other elements. The bulk of part i is ments imposed by the use of mosaics in Christian therefore organised on geographic lines, with chapters churches; but these blend with the earlier traditions to focusing on broadly defined regions. Inevitably I make no make this one of the most vital and interesting periods in attempt at complete coverage, and some major regions the history of the craft. Even the Arab conquests of the are omitted: I have not included, for instance, the Balkan seventh century did not bring the tradition to an end provinces, nor Egypt and Cyrenaica in the Roman period. immediately; the spectacular mosaics of the palaces of the Mosaics have certainly been found in these regions, but at Umayyad Caliphs in Palestine and Jordan attest to a final least in the present state of our knowledge they do not flowering. appear to contribute much that differs significantly from Thus far the object of the discussion has been exclu- the picture presented elsewhere. sively the use of mosaics for pavements. The application Many of the regions discussed in part i had indigenous of mosaic to walls and vaults is a Roman invention, dis- traditions of art of their own, which under the Empire tinct in its origins and main development from floor survive in media such as sculpture or metalwork, and mosaics, although the two related art forms naturally alongside products of more direct classical inspiration. overlap and influence one another. Accidents of survival Mosaic, on the other hand, in its fully developed form mean that it is very much less well attested than the more using cut tesserae, is an idiosyncratic technique unknown durable floor mosaics, and there are substantial gaps in in most regions until it was introduced from the Graeco- our knowledge of its development. I have devoted one Roman centres; very specific training was needed in order chapter (14) to it down to the fourth century ad; but to practise it. This results in a remarkable degree of uni- here I have not attempted to include the much better formity in some aspects of the craft; a common ornamen- known manifestations of the art in early Christian tal vocabulary, and to a large extent a common repertory churches. Although these too, of course, grew out of pre- of figured scenes, was utilised throughout this vast area. existing traditions and continuity can be traced in many There is almost no sign of the use of the mosaic technique aspects, nevertheless they are better left as a separate for representations of subjects of identifiable indigenous topic. Another chapter (15) treats a distinct but related origin. On the other hand there are substantial differences technique, used on both floors and walls: that known as between the regions: groups of workshops within a region opus sectile, in which pieces of marble or other materials developed their own favoured combinations of motifs are cut to the shape of parts of the design. This was and designs, their own methods of treating them; the almost certainly executed by different craftsmen from materials locally available impart distinct characteristics mosaics, and was clearly regarded as a more prestigious to the finished products; and patrons clearly varied in the form of decoration; but there are enough links between type of subjects and designs that they preferred to com- the two forms to make it desirable to include it in this mission. One of the main aims of part i is to bring out the book. nature and range of these regional variations within the Part ii studies the mosaics under broader thematic standardisation imposed by the common technique. headings, which aim to set the developments studied in I have not attempted to impose a single terminal date part i more fully into the context of commission and pro- on the discussions within these regional chapters, but duction. Successive chapters cover the craftsmen and have tried to find a natural closing point within each their organisation, technical aspects of production, the region. In parts of the western empire, the barbarian inva- nature of the repertory and its means of transmission, the sions of the fifth century ad brought to an end the style of relation between the mosaics and their architectural set- comfortable Romanised life in which buildings were dec- tings, and the patrons who commissioned the works. orated with mosaics and craftsmen trained to produce Many aspects of these topics have had to be treated more them; in other areas the traditions lingered on, but with briefly and selectively than would ideally have been desir- definite signs of decline. In parts of the eastern empire, on able, many more require further study; some of the most the other hand, no natural break or terminal point can be interesting recent research on mosaics has been devoted found before the seventh century or even later; the tradi- to questions such as these, but much remains to be done.