Search Results: Mosaic

Mosaics are designs and images created using small pieces (tesserae) of stone or other materials which have been used to decorate floors, walls, ceilings, and precious objects since before written records began. Like pottery, mosaics have...

An ancient Roman mosaic from the 4th century CE depicting an Amazon warrior in mounted combat against a Greek rider. The Greek is seizing the Phrygian cap of the Amazon. Cropped detail of a mosaic from Daphne, a suburb of Antioch on the Orontes...

The mosaic of Daedalus, Icarus, and Pasiphaë from Zeugma depicts the wife of King Minos of Crete Pasiphaë (ΦACIΦAH), an unidentified maiden, and her nanny Trophos (TPOΦOC) watching as Daedalus (ΔΕɅɅΟC) and his son Icarus (ΕIKAPOC) make a...

This mosaic depicts the twelve labours the demigod Hercules had to perform as penance for killing his wife and children. It decorated the triclinium (dining room) of the so-called House of the Labours of Hercules in Volubilis (modern-day...

Roman mosaic with white tesserae featuring a central panel (emblema) in opus vermiculatum (micro tesserae), Floor of the triclinium of a Roman villa in Via Ardeatina in Rome, first quarter of the 1st century BCE. The above panel depicts...

This detail is part of a mosaic column, which may have stood at the side of the entrance into the temple. The whole column originally had a core of palm-wood (now perished). A layer of bitumen coated that wood. The mosaic inlay pieces (mother-of-pearl...

Mosaic depicting musicians, signed by Dioskourides of Samos. The mosaic shows an episode from a comedy since the figures are wearing theatrical masks. The figures are playing musical instruments often connected with the cult of Cybele: the...

A Roman mosaic depicting Orestes and Iphigenia. The mosaic was the emblemata (centrepiece) of a larger floor mosaic. From the Horti Maccenatiani, 2-3rd century CE. (Capitoline Museums, Rome)

Wall mosaic detail from the podium of the Roman temple at Milreu, Portugal. 4th century CE. The wall mosaic depicts fish, dolphins, and seashells and surrounds the temple podium. Such a colorful mosaic frieze around a temple podium seems...

A Roman mosaic in the House of Venus in Volubilis (modern-day Morocco) depicting Diana and a nymph surprised by the hunter Actaeon while bathing. In revenge, the goddess turned Actaeon into a stag. He was then killed by his dogs. The mosaic...