A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly popular in the Ancient Roman world.
In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwork. In the aesthetic theories developed in the Italian Renaissance, the highest art was that which allowed the full expression and display of the artist's imagination, unrestricted by any of the practical considerations involved in, say, making and decorating a teapot. It was also considered important that making the artwork did not involve dividing the work between different individuals with specialized skills, as might be necessary with a piece of furniture, for example. Even within the fine arts, there was a hierarchy of genres based on the amount of creative imagination required, with history painting placed higher than still life.
The Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo is a basilica church in Ravenna, Italy. It was erected by the Ostrogothic king Theodoric the Great as his palace chapel during the first quarter of the 6th century. This Arian church was originally dedicated in 504 AD to "Christ the Redeemer".
The Arian Baptistry in Ravenna, Italy is a Christian baptismal building that was erected by the Ostrogothic King Theodoric the Great between the end of the 5th century and the beginning of the 6th century A.D., at the same time as the Basilica of Sant' Apollinare Nuovo.
The Basilica of San Vitale is a late antique church in Ravenna, Italy. The 6th century church is an important surviving example of early Christian Byzantine art and architecture. It is one of eight structures in Ravenna inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Its foundational inscription describes the church as a basilica, though its centrally-planned design is not typical of the basilica form. The Roman Catholic Church has designated the building a "basilica", an honorific title bestowed on exceptional church buildings of historic and ecclesial importance.
The Campana Brothers are Brazilian designers.
Flo Perkins is an American glass artist currently working and residing in the Pojoaque Valley north of Santa Fe, New Mexico. She received her Bachelor of Arts from the Philadelphia College of Art (1974), Master of Arts from the University of California at Los Angeles (1981), and she studied under renowned Italian master glass blower Lino Tagliapietra. Her work can be found in several museum collections including the Corning Museum of Glass, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Albuquerque Museum and the Racine Art Museum as well as numerous public and private collections.
Pauly & C. - Compagnia Venezia Murano is one of the oldest glass factories of Murano: it was founded more than 150 years ago. The company produces glass art, most notably Roman murrine, mosaics and chandeliers.
Luigi Guardigli was an Italian painter and mosaicist.
Marcelo José de Melo is a Brazilian artist. He was born in Apucarana, Paraná, and lives and works in Amsterdam, the Netherlands..
Elaine M. Goodwin is a British artist and author. She has exhibited extensively, written several works on art and design, and was founder president of the British Association of Modern Mosaics (BAMM). Together with other prominent artists, Goodwin also co-founded Tessellated Expression for the 21st Century (TE-21), a group of professional artists dedicated to exhibitions of the tessellated art form.
The Zliten mosaic is a Roman floor mosaic from about the 2nd century AD, found in the town of Zliten in Libya, on the east coast of Leptis Magna. The mosaic was discovered by the Italian archaeologist Salvatore Aurigemma in 1913 and is now on display at The Archaeological Museum of Tripoli. It depicts gladiatorial contests, animal hunts, and scenes from everyday life.
Eugen Ciucă was a Romanian-American artist known for his monumental sculptures, vivid paintings and drawings of delicate feminine figures. He spent the most successful years of his career in Italy, where he created many works inspired by the Divine Comedy and its author Dante Alighieri. Ciucă's art has been displayed in nearly 100 exhibitions across Europe and the United States.
Xenobia Bailey is an American fine artist, designer, Supernaturalist, cultural activist and fiber artist best known for her eclectic crochet African-inspired hats and her large scale crochet pieces and mandalas. She has said that her specialty is crochet and needlecraft.
The Chicago Mosaic School is a non-profit school that teaches mosaic art and design. It is located in Edgewater, Chicago, on Chicago's North Side.
Byzantine mosaics are mosaics produced from the 4th to 15th centuries in and under the influence of the Byzantine Empire. Mosaics were some of the most popular and historically significant art forms produced in the empire, and they are still studied extensively by art historians. Although Byzantine mosaics evolved out of earlier Hellenistic and Roman practices and styles, craftspeople within the Byzantine Empire made important technical advances and developed mosaic art into a unique and powerful form of personal and religious expression that exerted significant influence on Islamic art produced in Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates and the Ottoman Empire. In addition, Byzantine mosaics went on to influence artists in the Norman Kingdom of Sicily, in the Republic of Venice, and, carried by the spread of Orthodox Christianity, in Bulgaria, Serbia, Romania and Russia. In the modern era, artists across the world have drawn inspiration from their focus on simplicity and symbolism, as well as their beauty.
Ann Gardner is an American glass artist known for her large-scale sculptural and architectural installations.
Lilian Broca is a Canadian artist and art educator based in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Gary Drostle is a British artist specialising in public art, sculpture and mosaic as well as mural painting and drawing. He was also President of the British Association for Modern Mosaic, a lecturer at The Chicago Mosaic School. and is on the editorial board of Andamento the Journal of Contemporary Mosaics.
Nikolai Aleksandrovich Mukhin is a Soviet and Russian iconographer and sculptor. Mukhin is member of the Russian Academy of Arts and People's Artist of the Russian Federation. He established an icon art colony in his hometown of Yaroslavl. His main works are the frescos of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow and his principal work on the mosaics in the Church of Saint Sava in Belgrade, which after completion will form the biggest mosaic ensemble ever executed.
