Big changes occurred in the Roman Empire when Christianity was declared the official religion of the empire during the fourth century reign of Constantine and Helen. With mosaics, however, the subject matter changed but the techniques remained the same. At about this time the empire was divided with Rome being capital of the western part and Constantinople (named after you-know-who) the capital of the east. The Eastern (Byzantine) empire continued to thrive while the West declined because of invasions of barbarians and other factors.
The greatest of the Byzantine mosaics were created in the Italian city of Ravenna which was part of the eastern empire during the reign of Emperor Justinian and his wife, the notorious Empress Theodora. Many of these mosaics depict the court of Justinian and Theodora.
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| Justinian |
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| Theodora |
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| The Royal Court |
The prominent use of gold is similar to icons produced for Eastern Orthodox Churches.
Unfortunately with the encroaching dark ages. mosaics began a long decline along with society in general. Attila the Hun and other invaders had a pronounced negative effect on art, crafts, and architecture as well as science and math. When the Renaissance finally arrived mosaics took a back seat to oil painting and frescoes. It wasn't until the the Art Nouveau period in the early 20th Century do we see a resurgence of mosaics as a vital form of architectural decoration in the west. Our next post will cover mosaics in the Islamic world.
George Woideck
George Woideck is a teaching artist specializing in tile. mosaic, clay and professional development. See his work in the schools at tileandclayart.com.
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