Byzantine mosaic message. Summary: Byzantine moaics

The gorgeous monumental canvases, distinguished by the special scope and scale of the images, represent the Byzantine mosaic. This is the oldest art form of composing any image or picture from the same small particles. The central theme of such mosaics was Christian ...

The gorgeous monumental canvases, distinguished by the special scope and scale of the images, represent the Byzantine mosaic. This is the oldest art form of composing any image or picture from the same small particles. The central theme of such mosaics was the Christian orientation, and the desire to achieve the maximum visual effect became the driving force on the way to improving the laying technology, creating new shades and textures.

Unlike Roman mosaics, which solved the secular tasks of decorating and giving functionality to rooms in private villas or public buildings, Byzantine mosaics had slightly different functions. Their main purpose was considered to give artistic value to the decoration of cathedrals, tombs, temples, basilicas, etc. Byzantine masonry is designed to perceive the image from a long distance - the paintings are distinguished by some unevenness, velvety shades and textures, which "revives" the created images.

What is Byzantine mosaic made of?

Many centuries ago an amazing material called smalta was created in Byzantium. According to ancient legends, it was the Byzantines who discovered the unique properties of glass, which gains unprecedented strength when various metals are added to molten fine glass chips. This is how smalt has turned out - a glass mass with an admixture of gold, copper, mercury in different ratios. Each individual metal provided a certain shade of mosaic blocks, which, with the help of simple tools, were given by the craftsmen to geometric shapes that were convenient for laying. This is how the Byzantine mosaic came about - an exclusive art form made with smalt.

"Zest" of the Byzantine style

A feature of the use of such mosaics in temples was the creation of a chic golden background, which can be traced in most of the paintings. Usually, the masters used a direct set for styling, when a single golden field was obtained, which not only looked great in daylight, but also seemed "alive" in the mysterious reflections of candles. This effect of movement was determined by the play of shades and reflections of light on the golden smalt.

An important nuance inherent in Byzantine masonry is the presence of precise contours of each depicted object. To achieve maximum clarity, the contours of the appearance, the object were laid out in mosaic cubes in a row from the side of its figure, and in one row from the side of the general background. If you enjoy the beauty and grandeur of such a canvas from a distance, then the highlighted contours give the characters a showiness, accentuating their face against a shimmering gold background.

Among other features of the later art of laying Byzantine mosaics, there is a tendency to maintain the correct proportions of the human body, which is sometimes depicted both in a turn and in a moving state.

Byzantine wall "painting": history of origin

The oldest surviving examples of mosaics date back to the 3rd-4th centuries, although smalt was found around the 1st-2nd centuries BC. The most famous Byzantine tiles are considered to be the Ravenna mosaic, as well as the image of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. In Kievan Rus, the remains of smalt production were found near Sophia of Kiev. According to the assumption of archaeologists, Russian craftsmen were led by immigrants from Byzantium. Byzantine mosaic has not lost its nobility and energy to this day: it is a creative flight, a reflection of spiritual luxury, an aura of harmony and tranquility.

These mosaics have different purposes, different technologies, and they evoke completely different feelings. In the first case, we are transferred to the divine world, in the second, we are left to admire the mosaics in the earthly world.

Mosaic. Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. Roman mosaic.

Byzantine mosaic- The most ancient surviving examples of Byzantine mosaics date back to the 3rd-4th centuries, and two periods of prosperity fall on the 6th-7th centuries (golden age) and the 9th-14th (after iconoclasm - the Macedonian revival, the conservatism of the Komnenos and the Paleologian renaissance). The most famous Byzantine mosaics are the Ravenna mosaics and the images of Hagia Sophia (Constantinople).
Distinctive features:
1. Purpose: to move the beholder from the earthly world to the divine (due to technology, radiant color, haze, gold).
2. Plots: monumental canvases based on biblical plots, grandiose in design and implementation. Christian stories have become the central theme of mosaics, and the desire to achieve the maximum impression of the image has become the driving force behind the improvement of mosaic installation techniques and the development of new colors and compositions of smalt.

3. The material is, first of all, smalt mosaic (various metals (gold, copper, mercury) were added to the raw glass melt in various proportions and they learned how to make several hundred different smalt colors). Smalt colors were bright, clear, transparent, shining, divine. This is a hint of a non-earthly, divine world. Sunlight, falling on smalt, comes to life and is colored by its color.

It was the Byzantines who developed the technology for the production of smalt.
4. Technology: the elements were laid at different angles to the wall and had an uneven surface, this allowed the light (daylight and candles) to be reflected in the colored smalt and give a haze over the mosaic perceptible by the body. Mosaics were laid out using the direct set method, and each element in the installation was distinguished by its unique surface and its position relative to other elements and the base. A single and like a living golden field was created, flickering both in natural light and in candlelight. The uniqueness of the play of shades of color and reflections of light on a gold background created the effect of the movement of the whole picture, a person was transferred to the divine world.
5. The shape of the mosaic elements - mainly cubes - it was the compositions of neatly laid out small and more or less equal in size cubes that made the Byzantine mosaics famous.

6. Functions: visual tasks came to the fore (the main element of the artistic decoration of cathedrals, tombs, basilicas).
7. A feature of Byzantine mosaics in temples was the use of an amazing gold background. Gold is divine light.

8. Compulsory for the Byzantine craftsmen became the technical method of making the contours of bodies, objects, objects. The contour was laid out in one row of cubes and elements from the side of the figure or object, and also in one row - from the background. The smooth line of these contours made the images clear against the shimmering background.

XII century Byzantine mosaics in the conch of the apse of the cathedral in Cefal, Sicily. Christ Pantokrator
Mosaics of Ravenna.
Mausoleum of Galla Placidia.


"Garden of Eden" - mosaic on the ceiling


Cross and starry sky - mosaic in the dome. This mosaic demonstrates the triumph of Christ over death, His absolute power over the created world.

Mosaic "Christ - the Good Shepherd". The image of Jesus is not at all canonical.

Deer drinking from the source. The plot of the mosaic is inspired by the verses of Psalm 41: "As a deer desires for streams of water, so my soul desires for You, O God!" ...

But the bigger one.

And here you can see the ornaments of fabrics

Church of San Apolinare.

And this is a procession of martyrs from one of the walls in the Church of San Apolinar in Ravenna.

Ravenna Mosaic in the apse of San Apollinare

Ravenna Mosaic in the church of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo of Saint Apollinarius of Ravenna

Mosaic depicting the city and port in Klassa

Barbarously Dressed Magi Bringing Gifts to Christ, detail

Procession of the Martyrs, detail

Christ and four angels

Poem Byzantine Mosaics

In the shimmering smalt of oriental mosaics,

Without the joys of being on earth

A harsh age has come. And God's face

I became a canon, looking out of conch * apses.

The regulation keeps the life stable,

But the luxury of colors surpasses Rome.

The artist is a worm before painting the wall,

Without a name, even though the temple was created by him.

Beneath the lush vault, good things soar,

The saints stand in shining vestments,

As faith guards at royal places ** -

A line of strict guard of soldiers.

In the Europe of the spirit, life was freer

In bloom of frescoes of gloomy churches.

05/20/2011 Vladimir Gogolitsin

* Koncha - half-domed roof of the apse inside the church.

** In early Romanesque Byzantine temples in the main hall

usually the column had a place for the head of state.

ROMAN mosaic

The oldest mosaic examples of Roman styling found during archaeological excavations date back to the 4th century BC. And during the heyday of the Roman Empire, mosaic became the most common way of interior decoration, both for palaces, public baths, and private atriums.

Distinctive features:
1. Purpose: to entertain the beholder (beauty) and functionality, durability.

2. Three-dimensional mosaics with three-dimensional shapes.
3. Material: Preference is given to marble and natural stones. The color of the stones is dull, muted, not clear, it does not give the glow inherent in Byzantine mosaics.
4. Plots - everyday, earthly, real (fish, animals, people, birds, wreaths of grape leaves and hunting scenes with detailed images of animals, mythological characters and heroic campaigns, love stories and genre scenes from everyday life, sea travel and military battles , theatrical masks and dance steps. The choice of the plot for a particular mosaic was determined either by the customer (sometimes the mosaic even captured the portrait of the owner of the house, for example), or by the purpose of the building).
5. Technology: the elements were laid parallel to the wall one after the other in a straight line. The surface of the elements was smooth. Feelings of the earth.

6. Shape: the background elements of Roman mosaics are usually light and rather large, often the background is formed by monochromatic stones with chaotic stacking in no particular order. Elements of pictures and shapes are smaller, but often still large for the selected picture. The variety of colors often depends on the capabilities of the master in a particular settlement or, most likely, the financial capabilities of the customers. While the mosaics of large palaces sometimes amaze with the sophistication of their colors, small compositions seem to be limited in the choice of colors.

7. Roman mosaics are characterized by ease of perception and at the same time the impression of luxury and wealth. In contrast to the heartfelt and monumental images of Byzantine mosaics, which will be formed later, Roman mosaics are more ordinary and, at the same time, elegantly decorative, festive.

Ancient Roman mosaic on the wall at the Bardo Museum


Museum of Ancient Roman Mosaics in Tunisia

Byzantine mosaic is primarily smalt mosaic... It was the Byzantines who developed the technology for the production of smalt, thanks to which this relatively economical and easy-to-handle glass became the main material in monumental painting. The Byzantines, by adding various metals (gold, copper, mercury) in various proportions to the raw glass melt, learned how to make several hundred different colors of smalt, and with the help of simple tools, the mosaic elements could be given elementary geometric shapes that were convenient for laying in a mosaic canvas. And yet cubes became the main mosaic element - it was the compositions of neatly laid out small and more or less equal in size cubes that made the Byzantine mosaics famous.

The oldest surviving examples of Byzantine mosaics date back to the 3rd-4th centuries, and two periods of prosperity fall on the 6th-7th centuries (golden age) and the 9th-14th (after iconoclasm - the Macedonian revival, the conservatism of the Komnenos and the Paleologian renaissance). The most famous Byzantine mosaics are the Ravenna mosaics and the images of Hagia Sophia (Constantinople). If Roman mosaic solved purely functional problems along with aesthetic problems, Byzantine mosaics became the main element of the artistic decoration of cathedrals, tombs, basilicas and visual problems came to the fore. Roman mythological images, often playful and genre, which looked equally good both in private atriums and in public baths, were replaced by monumental canvases based on biblical subjects, grandiose in design and implementation. Christian stories have become the central theme of mosaics, and the desire to achieve the maximum impression of the image has become the driving force behind the improvement of mosaic installation techniques and the development of new colors and compositions of smalt.

A feature of Byzantine mosaics in temples was the use of an amazing gold background... Mosaics were laid out using the direct set method, and each element in the installation was distinguished by its unique surface and its position relative to other elements and the base. A single and like a living golden field was created, flickering both in natural light and in candlelight. The uniqueness of the play of shades of color and reflections of light on a gold background created the effect of movement of the whole picture.

The technique of making the contours of bodies, objects, objects became obligatory for the Byzantine masters. The contour was laid out in one row of cubes and elements from the side of the figure or object, and also in one row - from the background. The smooth line of these contours made the images clear against the shimmering background.

Byzantine mosaic

The beginning of the formation of Byzantine mosaics falls on the 3-4th century AD. It was during this era that the first mosaic compositions were created. The flourishing of the mosaic art of Byzantium is considered to be the 6-7th century AD. In the future, this type of monumental painting experienced a crisis. In the period from the 9th to the 14th century, mosaic art began to revive and develop. Most of the compositions are biblical subjects and images of saints that adorn the walls and ceilings of temples and churches.

Applying ancient techniques in the composition of mosaics, the masters of Byzantium formed their own technique in creating works. Particles of transparent and matte smalt, and sometimes pebbles of various shapes and sizes, were glued together in a binder base at different angles. This technique allowed sunlight to shimmer in different shades on the mosaic canvases.

The themes of the mosaic compositions were stories from the Bible. They seemed to carry believers to another world. The faces of Christ, images of angels and prophets, as well as the exaltation of the power of the anointed of God became the main subjects of the mosaic works of Byzantium. At the same time, the plot with biblical characters was necessarily created on a gold background, which symbolized luxury and wealth. Thus, the Byzantine mosaicists wanted to create the effect of the viewer's involvement with the image.

The uneven shining surfaces of the mosaics were touched in the play of light and shade, thereby forming an even greater aura of mystery in the interior.

The bright, colorful tones gave the viewer the feeling that a miracle was about to happen.

Until now, the world-famous mosaics of Ravenna, a city located in the northern part of Italy, have been preserved. In this city in the 6th century AD, the best masters of mosaic art decorated the walls of the Church of San Vitale. Sunlight coming from the arched openings of the galleries and the dome allows the mosaic to sparkle with all shades of the color palette. On both sides of the windows there are mosaics depicting the Emperor Justinian and his wife Theodora with her retinue.

The first mosaic canvas depicts the Emperor Justinian making an offering to the church in the form of a golden bowl. His head is adorned with a diadem, the master also crowned it with a halo to show how strongly the emperor is committed to religion. Justinian is dressed in colored robes decorated with gold. On the right side of the emperor are two courtiers and several guards, whose figures are covered by a ceremonial shield with the monogram of Christ. On the left side of Justinian is an elder in the clothes of a senator and Bishop Maximian, holding a cross in his hand, as well as two deacons. The absolutely precise symmetry of the left and right sides of the mosaic canvas creates a sense of balance and harmony in the viewer.

On the opposite wall there is a mosaic with the image of the wife of the emperor Theodora. She enters the cathedral holding a chalice with gold coins. On her shoulders and neck are amazingly beautiful and exquisite necklaces. The Empress's head is adorned with a crown with colorful pearl pendants. Her head is also crowned with a halo. On the left side of Justinian's wife are the courtiers, whose tunics are decorated with precious stones. On the right side of the Empress is depicted a eunuch who opens the curtain of the cathedral and a deacon. The mosaicist compiled this composition on a gold background.

Both works create in the viewer the feeling that the power of the emperor of Byzantium is strong and unshakable. How not to submit to such power when it is surrounded by such luxury and wealth.

It should also be noted the unique mosaic works in the Church of the Assumption in Nicaea, which were created in the 7th century AD. Unfortunately, the church was destroyed in 1922. Compositions depicting angels simply amaze the viewer with their beauty and splendor. The images of angels are so noble that it seems as if this is a real ideal of beauty of the ancient era. They are depicted in expressive attire of court guards against the golden background of the altar vault. Guarding the throne, they stand in pairs, holding banners in their hands. Angels appear before the viewer in a natural pose. At the same time, complex foreshortenings of the hands, through the palms of which the divine light shines through, make the images as realistic and expressive as possible.

The mosaic canvas with the image of the famous angel "Dynamis", which personifies the standard of perfection, nobility and spirituality, deserves special attention. The face of an angel simply amazes with the richness of the inner world, the depth of emotions and feelings. Unfortunately, the name of the creator of this unique masterpiece is unknown.

A distinctive feature of the Byzantine style in mosaic art is that the craftsmen observed the maximum accuracy of the proportions of human bodies. Often, figures were depicted by mosaicists in turn or movement. In most cases, the mosaic picture was composed in such a way as to visually emphasize the volume of the image.

Byzantine mosaics

After the collapse of the Roman Empire in the IV century. Byzantium, as the legal successor of traditions, preserved the spirit and principles of Roman mosaics. Their semantic sound was further developed here: pragmatic decorative art passed into the category of cult art.

The art of mosaics is undergoing in Byzantium in the 4th – 15th centuries. unprecedented flowering. Byzantine mosaics were primarily used to decorate temples. Here they decorate the interiors of temples with mosaics from floor to dome, laying out colossal squares with smalt. This is probably why the interpretation of images has lost its exciting realism, it has become more conventional. Mosaic paintings by Byzantium depicted Christian saints, whose images were little known and vague in comparison with their deeds. If the masters of antiquity copied the surrounding reality, then the Byzantine masters modeled their world in similarity to the real one.

In Byzantium, mosaic became an imperial technique. The purpose of the mosaic determined the size of the images, the monumentality of the compositions, and the nature of the masonry. The velvety and lively unevenness of the Byzantine masonry was calculated for the perception of the image from a great distance. Outstanding examples of mosaic art can be seen in Byzantine churches.

Byzantine mosaics are mainly monumental canvases that adorn domes, niches and walls that make up temple spaces with volumes of hundreds and thousands of square meters. The walls and vaults of some of the temples were almost completely covered with mosaics.

Long before the appearance of the icon, mosaic art was placed at the service of Christianity.

Starting with Byzantium, the subsequent development of mosaics is firmly associated with Christianity. The idea of ​​the divinity of the images of the world, which was recreated on the walls of temples, also determined the material used for the set of mosaics (Fig. 3).

Figure 3. Fragment of the Byzantine mosaic

Byzantine mosaics, unlike Rome, were made of smalt, opaque glass. Smalt is almost not subject to aging and natural decay, therefore the Byzantines considered it as an unfading "eternal material, not subject to decay." They were convinced that smalt, as a material, reproduces the character of the heavenly world and the Kingdom of God, and mosaics, as a technical means, are called upon to glorify this Kingdom. Often times, Byzantine mosaics were called "eternal painting". During this period, mosaic paintings were created from complex multi-figure compositions, inserts, ornaments, including mosaics in the churches of the Assumption in Nicaea (1067), Kakhriye Jami in Constantinople (1316) and many others.

The era of the Byzantine Empire was the time of the highest flowering of mosaic art. Over time, Byzantine mosaics acquire a more sophisticated character, they are made up of smaller modules, which allows for elegant masonry. The background of the images predominantly takes on a golden color, symbolizing divine light and the inexplicability of mystery.

The mosaics in the houses of the deceased Pompeii amazed and worried the poet Johann Goethe. He wrote that every time we look at her, "we all again return to simple and pure enthusiastic amazement."

With the adoption of Christianity, mosaic and mosaic art appeared in Kievan Rus in the × century. However, this type of decorative and applied art was not widespread due to the too high price of materials that were brought from Constantinople. Byzantium established a state monopoly on the export of smalt. Therefore, the mosaic in Russia served as a symbol of luxury and royal power. For two centuries, the main premises of the temples were decorated with mosaics.

The first experience of the appearance of mosaics in Russia was the decoration of the churches of St. Sophia (1043–1046). Historical annals testify that the Sofia mosaics were recruited by Byzantine masters. These monumental canvases are still clean and colorful, although almost 1000 years have passed since their creation.

Half a century later, for another cathedral - Archangel Michael (1108-1113) in Kiev - Kiev masters were already recruiting mosaics. For this reason, a full-fledged production of smalt was organized on the territory of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, now it did not need to be delivered at too high a price from Constantinople. The mosaic decoration of the temple was made of precious materials of our own production. But then the tragic events associated with the Tatar-Mongol invasion followed, ties with Byzantium were interrupted, so there was a historical pause in the development of this art in Russia. It was forgotten for a long time and was revived only in the middle of the 18th century.

Florentine mosaic

In Western Europe in the Middle Ages, mosaics were mainly used to decorate temples. The masters of the Islamic world also mastered the mosaic technique.

During the Renaissance in Europe, another mosaic set technique was formed, which was named Florentine. It was in Florence that it was developed and from here it later spread throughout Europe.

The principle of this technique consisted in the selection of different-sized pieces of natural stone. They had to fit tightly to each other and with their structure emphasize the nature of the object being painted. The variety of sizes and silhouettes of the pieces from which the mosaic was formed was determined by the nature of the image.

The Florentine technique was based on the use of natural stone patterns. The stone as an artistic material of this type of mosaic gave it both color and a specific texture inherent in a particular breed, which cannot be obtained in any other way. A specific feature of this particular type of mosaic was polishing, which helped to reveal the color of the stone with its inherent structure as deeply and richly as possible.

During the Renaissance in Italy, mosaic works were created in special workshops at large churches. In particular, such workshops were at the Cathedral of San Marco in Venice and the Cathedral of St. Peter in Rome.

Initially, when creating mosaics using Florentine technology, craftsmen used soft, easy-to-work marble rocks that were mined in the south of Europe. However, the geography of technology gradually expanded.

Due to these circumstances, the material that was used for her became more and more diverse. Stone as a consumable color was now supplied from all over the world, expanding the color and textural potential of this technique (Figure 4).

Figure 4. Florentine mosaic

Around 1775, Roman craftsmen learned to cut threads of molten glass of various shades into microscopic pieces. This allowed them to copy famous paintings in the form of miniature mosaics.

Russian mosaic

Russian masters from about the 13th century. remained aloof from the development of this art form, the tragic events of the Tatar-Mongol invasion and the death of Byzantium itself isolated the Russian principalities from Europe, putting them on the brink of survival.

Only in the 17th century. MV Lomonosov made an attempt to revive mosaic art. Empirically, not being able to borrow, he developed a technology for cooking smalt, putting its production on an industrial basis. Using the newly created material, he, together with his students, typed the canvas "Poltava" and a series of portraits. They are rare not only for their time.

In St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg in the second half of the XIX - early XX century. great work was carried out on the manufacture of smalt mosaics. During this period, an ensemble of mosaic paintings and ornaments was created here, which stood out for their high skill.

However, the mosaic initiative of MV Lomonosov did not receive historical development. The new and already final advent of mosaics to Russia took place in the middle of the 19th century, when St. Isaac's Cathedral was being built in St. Petersburg. The walls of the cathedral were supposed to be decorated with mosaics, for which Russian artists created paintings. Then Italian masters were invited to help translate the images from the oil painting technique into the smalt mosaic technique.

For the production of material at the Academy of Arts, a special mosaic workshop was formed, which, among others, used the recipe for making smalt, developed by M.V. Lomonosov. Since that time, artistic production of smalt has been put on stream. Thanks to this, the art of mosaic in Russia has received a fairly dynamic development, has acquired its own academic style. In particular, the Church of the Resurrection of Christ, known as the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, is the largest work of mosaic art in Europe. At the same time, he is undoubtedly the brightest example of a combination of mosaics and architecture in the world.

At the World Paris Fair, which took place in 1911, the most interesting products of Russian craftsmen were presented. When making mosaics, they used a wide palette of Ural gems. The sophisticated European public was amazed by the richness of the colors of semi-precious and precious stones, which were used in the manufacture of voluminous vases. Experts noted in them a specific kind of Florentine mosaic, which since that time has been called Russian mosaic.

Classic mosaic

The historical techniques of Roman, Byzantine and Florentine mosaics have existed and continued to develop up to the present day. In the course of the objective processes of the development of art, a certain general principle was developed, which is usually called the traditional classical mosaic. This is a universal generalized way of modular laying. It can vary depending on the goals and priorities of certain art schools. The principle is called classic due to its collective nature and focus on typical examples of traditional mosaic art available in the history of art. Individual personal arrangements of the fundamental provisions of the modular mosaic do not change the main principle. They fit without much difficulty into the general name of the classical mosaic. Contemporary mosaic as an art form is still elitist. She is able to satisfy the needs of both material and spiritual nature. The variety of modern materials provided craftsmen with a wide choice of techniques and styles for making mosaics (Fig. 5).

Figure 5. A fragment of a classical mosaic

Mosaic panels and mosaics about the interior

The history of the emergence and development of mosaic as a very unusual art form is very interesting. Her amazingly expressive technique has always allowed her to create decorative images of amazing beauty. The materials and technique of their application to the base made mosaic the most durable form of decorative and applied art that has come down to us since antiquity. Italian artist of the 15th century. Domenico Ghirlandaio called the mosaic "eternal painting". The mosaic sometimes survived where even the stone collapsed.

The modern interpretation considers the concept of "mosaic" in terms of fine art as decorative, applied and monumental art of various genres. Such works form an image by arranging, recruiting and fixing on a surface, most often on a plane, multi-colored stones, smalt, ceramic tiles and other, sometimes very unusual materials. Today, mosaic continues to be a valuable artistic tool for decoration and interior decoration of premises and their external surfaces.

The artistic possibilities of mosaics are truly endless. With its help, you can create a decorative image both in the form of a simple mosaic pattern - a pattern, carpet, stretch, a single decoration element to create an accent in the interior, and in the form of a complex composition and painting.

The process of creating an artistic mosaic consists, as before, in laying its elements by pressing into the ground, as well as in a set of images on cardboard or fabric with their further transfer to a primed surface.

History has not preserved the name of the master who first thought of creating mosaic panels, nor even the country where this discovery took place. Nevertheless, such panels come across among the ruins of Ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome. Some decline in the well-established production of mosaic paintings occurred due to a change in the social formation in Europe. With the destruction of the slavery system, there was no one to do the rough work and chop natural stone, marble and granite into small modules. The very painstaking handwork that was required to create mosaic panels laid out from small pieces of glass and stone, made them the privilege of very wealthy people and persons of royal blood. It seemed that mosaic compositions could become a thing of the past forever. However, the mosaic has not lost its popularity - the mosaic panels gave the interior a completely extraordinary look.

Over time, the lost old secrets were replaced by new industrial technologies for the production and laying of mosaic compositions. Gradually, a lot of mosaic wall panels in the Roman or Byzantine technique were created in Russia (Fig. 6).

Figure 6. Mosaic portrait of Peter I by M. V. Lomonosov

The return of glass, or rather smalt, mosaics to the European markets over the centuries has made a kind of revolution in the field of creating mosaic panels.

Smalt mosaics can be called glass only conditionally, although they are made from the same raw materials. Smalt mosaic pieces are much stronger than ordinary glass. During the production process, the molten glass mass is fired in special furnaces at a temperature of 1200 ° C. The fired glass mass is very similar to the ancient smalt.

As the extraction of natural stone expanded in the Urals, its own Russian mosaic appeared. She developed the ideas of Florentine mosaic using marble and jasper, malachite and lapis lazuli. Both the color of the stone and its natural pattern gave great expressiveness to the works of the masters of Russian mosaic.

Now mosaics began to lay out not only smooth walls and vaults, but also all kinds of architectural details - columns and pilasters. In addition, mosaics have appeared on various decorative objects with a complex shape and shaped surface: vases, bowls, caskets, pieces of furniture, even on the legs of lamps. This was partly due to the new mosaic technique.

In Europe, the so-called reverse dialing technique was invented. With the help of mosaics made in this technique, in the 19th century. a great many town halls, theaters, churches and other buildings were decorated. This technique consists in the following: in the workshop, modules are glued with the back side up on paper (tracing paper) with a drawing of the future mosaic in full size. Fragment by fragment, the assembled mosaic is transferred to the intended place, pressing it with its back side into the fixing composition.

After the composition dries, the paper and glue are washed off. Like a decal, the front side of the mosaic is made visible.

The reverse set technique significantly saves time and effort when creating a panel, but the flat surface is somewhat lacking in the play of light that so enlivened medieval mosaics. Thanks to the reverse set technique, mosaics and paintings today adorn buildings of museums, metro stations, shopping arcades, parks and playgrounds all over the world - from California to Moscow, from Israel to Japan.

Set of Aztec masks, which are inlaid with agate, obsidian, jasper and rock crystal, are an example of the amazingly painstaking work of ancient mosaic masters with the most durable natural materials.

Mosaic panels, thanks to their smooth but edged surfaces, are considered ideal for decorating large, monotonous facades of modern buildings. Architects actively use such an unusual decor in their projects, therefore, the spatial and linear dimensions of such mosaic paintings can be tens and even hundreds of meters.

In the process of creating any mosaic, 2 main stages can be distinguished: the creation of a graphic picture in color and the subsequent filling it with paints of natural and artificial materials. The drawing of a modern mosaic picture can be made up of multi-colored pieces of wood, glass, stone or mother-of-pearl. Cubes, columns or plates of the same size are fixed to a plane using cement, wax or glue.

More often, masters perform multi-color mosaics, but sometimes a mosaic pattern is created on the basis of only 2 different colors (not necessarily a black and white combination) or even only 2 shades of the same color.

The effect of large, hard brush strokes is achieved by using relatively large pieces of material during the laying. Panels created using this technique are perfect for a living room, decorating walls or floors in a pool, to give the facade of a building an exclusive look.

Subtle details and smooth color transitions can be reproduced using very small pieces. They allow you to achieve the effect of the integrity of the mosaic panel.

A mosaic panel can be either a central element of a room's design when it is placed on a wall, ceiling or floor, or accentuate other decorative elements.

A mosaic panel made by a skilled craftsman is difficult to distinguish from a real picture; it can become an unexpected spectacular accent in any interior. Such a panel does not require a long distance in order to FULLY appreciate its beauty.

Art at all times is author's. Mosaics created by talented artists bear the stamp of their gift, a genius captured in smalt, stone, marble or other material. An artist or master recreates his spiritual world, his way of thinking, his worldview in his work. For what he uses this or that direction of a certain school, various techniques and styles. Therefore, every mosaic picture or panel, like any picture, must have its own style. Panels created in the Greek, Roman, or Florentine styles are always very popular. Many of the classic mosaic paintings reflect nature's motives.

Smalt is an artificial material that was created as a result of a technical search by a curious person. The frozen smalt is pricked into modules of the required size, from which the mosaic is assembled. The size of each module is determined by the needs of artistic tasks.

In Soviet times, mosaics lost their former elite and temple affiliation - mosaic panels in the style of socialist realism were designed to decorate palaces for the people: train stations, houses of culture and the metro. Smalt, such a valuable and expensive material, was practically turned into a building material, which covered huge areas of walls and facades. These buildings undoubtedly stood out from the others. Although the new role of the mosaic diminished its sacred value, it was a kind of classical style (Fig. 7).

Figure 7. Classic mosaic of Soviet times

Classicism in the art of mosaic can be called classicism proper, Empire style, Baroque style, Neoclassicism and eclecticism. Classics are all styles that existed before the advent of modernity.

Modern is a threshold style that completely rejects the experience of previous generations; he emerged as a troublemaker. Modern is often seen as a bourgeois revolution in the evolutionary gradual development of art. The Art Nouveau style is too characteristic, it is fundamentally different from all other styles that art critics collectively define as classics. The Art Nouveau style brought many new things to each art form (Fig. 8).

Figure 8. Art Nouveau style in mosaic

This style gave the mosaic the use of such new materials as ceramics, glass and porcelain. The pebbles are back. These materials began to be used on a par with traditional smalt and stone and as a purely type-setting material, as individual elements and details of the composition.

However, the main quality that Art Nouveau as a style has introduced into the art of mosaic is the breakdown of the traditional boundaries of technology and the confusion of masonry methods. The Art Nouveau style brought a new "anomalous" type of masonry, in which a variety of sizes appeared. He violated the modular expediency and unity of the principle of creating a mosaic composition. Breaking all traditions and established stereotypes, this style began to cross the classical and Florentine techniques.

Now in one mosaic composition can be found masonry modules, different in nature and size. The very nature of the modular figures began to change depending on the image. If in the classical mosaic only modules of certain sizes and types were used, then the Art Nouveau style, breaking traditions, combined traditional rectangular modules with exaggeratedly elongated and geometrically incorrectly cut modules in the same composition.

The most colorful figure of the Art Nouveau era can be considered the Spanish architect Gaudi. The fantastic architectural structures of this author are unusual even for the Art Nouveau style. The original and organic mosaics of Gaudi so naturally fall into the architectural environment, so vividly emphasize the exotic plasticity of forms that if someone wants to find a replacement for them, then they will definitely have to change the architecture itself.

After the Art Nouveau era, even the very concept of classical mosaic has become much broader and more flexible (Fig. 9).

Modern mosaics are made from a wide variety of materials. Currently, there are a significant number of types of mosaics. Among them, shiny, glazed, ceramic, pressed, glass and enamel mosaics are becoming increasingly popular.

However, the most famous type is glass mosaic, which is made using Venetian glass. Its tiles are available in standard sizes from 1 × 1 to 5 × 5 cm. The color range of glass mosaics is abundant and varied, it has more than 150 color shades.

Figure 9. Classical postmodern mosaic

Smalt mosaics are also based on glass, created from natural compounds. It differs from glass mosaic with a matte opaque surface. This quality does not deprive the smalt mosaic of its unique charm. It seems to glow from the inside, because each module of this mosaic is unique in its color shade.

Ceramic mosaic consists of modules resembling ordinary ceramic tiles in their color scheme. Modules can be coated with glaze and contain various craquelures, i.e. small cracks, blotches and color stains.

For unusual works, a special collection is produced with the effect of a semi-precious stone aventurine, as well as "gold" and "silver" mosaics. Exquisite mosaics with the addition of gold or platinum are handcrafted by artisans from start to finish. Such an unusual mosaic, created by the hands of goldsmiths, is used as an element of expensive decor.

Today, the classic execution of smalt mosaics, as before, is regarded as the most sophisticated option for interior decoration on special occasions. Stone mosaic is used primarily for creating images on floors or terraces. Marble mosaics as well as porcelain stoneware are used for the decoration of public buildings.

Wide technical characteristics, accessibility, diversity, high artistic potential and the possibility of improvisation have made mosaics from glass, glass mixtures and ceramics especially popular in the decoration of a wide variety of premises. It is these materials that are the undisputed leaders among modern mosaic materials, as they help to implement any creative idea of ​​the master.

Over the past half century, the views of artists have turned to another type of mosaic material, which was previously used for a completely different purpose. These are the seeds of various plants - they are used to make unusual panels and paintings of a relatively small size. They are capable of deservingly become an adornment of the most exquisite interior.

The importance of choosing a material for a mosaic is difficult to dispute, nevertheless, this is not the most important thing in creating a unique look for an interior. It is much more important to give preference to one or another technology for creating a mosaic pattern.