Editing Mosaic (section)

{{short description|Image made from small colored tiles}}
{{About|a decorative art}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2015}}
{{multiple image
| perrow            = 3
| total_width       = 475|center
| image1            = MosaicEpiphany-of-Dionysus.jpg
| image2            = Sousse neptune.jpg
| image3            = MANNapoli_9994_detail_mosaic_mask.jpg
| image4            = "The good Shepherd" mosaic - Mausoleum of Galla Placidia.jpg
| image5            = Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore abside a Roma.jpg
| image6            = Basilica of San Vitale - Lamb of God mosaic.jpg
| image7            = Antwerpen Jugendstil Waterloostraat Herfst, Winter, Zomer en Lente 10.jpg
| image8            = Antwerpen Jugendstil Waterloostraat Herfst, Winter, Zomer en Lente 07.jpg
| image9            = Falguera-lactancia-1940-01red.jpg
| footer            = Various examples of mosaics. Each row of 3 pictures represents a style: [[Ancient Greek art|Ancient Greek]] or [[Roman art|Roman]], [[Byzantine art|Byzantine]] and [[Art Nouveau#Architecture and ornamentation|Art Nouveau]]
}}

A '''mosaic''' ({{IPAc-en|m|əʊ||ˈ|z|eɪ|ɪ|k}}) is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by [[plaster]]/[[Mortar (masonry)|mortar]], and covering a surface.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Fischer|first=Peter|title=Mosaic History and Technique|publisher=Thames and Hudson|year=1971|isbn=0500231427|pages=7, 8}}</ref> Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly popular in the [[Ancient Rome|Ancient Roman]] world.

Mosaic today includes not just murals and pavements, but also artwork, hobby crafts, and industrial and construction forms.

Mosaics have a long history, starting in [[Mesopotamia]] in the 3rd millennium BC. [[Pebble mosaic]]s were made in [[Tiryns]] in [[Mycenean civilisation|Mycenean]] Greece; mosaics with patterns and pictures became widespread in classical times, both in [[Ancient Greece]] and [[Ancient Rome]]. Early Christian [[basilica]]s from the 4th century onwards were decorated with wall and ceiling mosaics. Mosaic art flourished in the [[Byzantine Empire]] from the 6th to the 15th centuries; that tradition was adopted by the [[Norman dynasty|Norman]] [[Kingdom of Sicily]] in the 12th century, by the eastern-influenced [[Republic of Venice]], and among the [[Rus' (people)|Rus]]. Mosaic fell out of fashion in the [[Renaissance]], though artists like [[Raphael]] continued to practice the old technique. Roman and Byzantine influence led Jewish artists to decorate 5th and 6th century synagogues in the [[Middle East]] with floor mosaics.

Figurative mosaic, but mostly without human figures, was widely used on religious buildings and palaces in early [[Islamic art]], including Islam's first great religious building, the [[Dome of the Rock]] in [[Jerusalem]], and the [[Umayyad Mosque]] in [[Damascus]].  Such mosaics went out of fashion in the Islamic world after the 8th century, except for geometrical patterns in techniques such as [[zellij]], which remain popular in many areas.

Modern mosaics are made by artists and craftspeople around the world. Many materials other than traditional stone, ceramic tesserae, enameled and stained glass may be employed, including shells, beads, charms, chains, gears, coins, and pieces of costume jewelry.
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