Italian Mosaics
The bigger picture — so relevant when you think of a mosaic. My travels to Italy over the years, specifically Pompeii and Napoli widened my horizons to this incredible art. The detail, skill and compositions are like no where else in the world.
In 2019 I enrolled in an Italian mosaic course in Firenze, gaining a hands-on understanding and skill of this age old craft.
During my course, I discovered the hardest part is individually cutting each tessera (tile) to custom fit your masterpiece. It takes a lot of patience, practice and physical strength. With an aching arm and back, it took about 4 days, 7 hours each day and a tub full of tiger balm to get my small piece done. Not including all the pre-planning!
Every little tessera plays an important part in the creation of a mosaic.
Composition and colour palette are paramount in the thought process.
One of the most spectacular examples of mosaics that I have seen is in the Baptistery of Saint John in Firenze. Conceived in the 1225, the decoration of the mosaic ceiling continued for over the course of the century - with over a million tiny tesserae shimmering down on the Baptistery floor which is also composed of complex geometric mosaics, it is impossible not to to look around in wonder at these masterpieces.