1. The Alexander Mosaic

2. ROMAN MOSAICS Opus tessellatum Opus sectile Opus vermiculatum
Tessellae / tesserae
Opus sectile
Opus vermiculatum
Polychrome
emblemata

3. MOSAICS: General background & Styles
- A Greek idea
- made from cubes of stone from 2nd Century BC
- Used as floor and wall decoration
Fashion evolved (till 2nd Century AD)
- black/white geometric
- polychrome, decorative patterns
- scenes in style of Greek painting
A luxury, displaying wealth.
- some made on site inset directly in floor
- floor prepared, leveled, straw/mortar/ brick/lime layers to give solid foundation all on a bed of wooden planks
- some prefabricated in workshop
-held together with a glued cloth
-taken to site and laid in frame in soft mortar, glue dissolved and cloth removed.
-called emblemata (Gk for portable mosaic)
OPUS VERMICULATUM
-figured scenes made from tiny tesserae, small (1-4mm) coloured cuboid stones.
- Set into wet mortar in flowing lines and curves (worm-like) – like brush strokes.
-tiny tessarae in graduated colours simulated painting.
- Hadrian’s mosaics are fine examples.

4. Some fine example of geometric patterns in mosaic black/white floors of Hadrian’s Villa

6. The Basics - 2nd Cent BC - Adapted from earlier painting?
- Place – House of the Faun, on floor of exedra on north side of first peristyle.
by 5.50m
- Technique – Opus vermiculatum (wormlike). Curve and wind around
-Tesserae (stone pieces) very small.

7. Content Battle of Issus 333 BC, or Gaugamela in 331 BC
Alexander on horseback, Bucephalus, spearing an enemy
Persian King, Darius III, fleeing on chariot

8. More like a painting than a mosaic
More like a painting than a mosaic. Much more three dimensional than normal mosaic. Realistic depiction of scene by using:
Style
Sense of depth through overlapping and three quarter views
Shading
Shadowing – light from left
Foreshortening – Horses proportions correctly rendered in relation to the angle from which we see it, so that the part of the animal that is further away is shortened

9. Features linking to third or fourth century BC
Limitation of colours to white, yellow, red and black, the ‘four colour’ technique adopted by fourth and fifth century BC Greek painters
Scarcity of landscape features (only a tree and rocks)
Shallow depth of field in scene, any depth being conveyed by foreshortening and overlapping

10. Composition Persian King the key figure
He is above the rest, while Alexander slightly lower, is still above figures on his side
Darius arm outstretched and Alex spear raised
Linked by gesture and intensity of stare
Alexander given a wild eyed intensity
Darius portrayed sympathetically - looks in dismay
Rest of action is a jumble of soldiers, weapons and horses, conveying chaos and confusion of battle
Focus Greek inspired art, human participants focus
Composition

11. Question
In what ways is a sense of confusion or chaos depicted?