Author: Anne-Marie Guimier-Sorbets
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781649030740
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 256
Book Description
A beautifully illustrated study of mosaic art in Greco-Roman Egypt The art of the mosaic was developed by the Greeks, notably within the royal court of Macedonia, and was initially unknown to the Egyptians. Macedonian mosaicists then established busy workshops in the capital, Alexandria, and in the new towns of Greek Egypt. Under the stimulus of commissions from the Ptolemaic court, these workshops soon showed that they were capable of innovation. Beginning with pebbles, they then used tesserae of different sizes, and adopted new materials (glass, faience, paint) in order to transpose onto the floor images from grand paintings, which was the major art form of the time and was characterized by the vivid use of color. Alexandrian mosaicists were at the forefront of creativity during the Hellenistic period and their influence spread around the Mediterranean. After the Roman conquest of Egypt they adapted to the tastes of their new sponsors and to changes in architecture and were able to retain an important place within this art as it developed across the entire empire, in Rome and from east to west. The Mosaics of Alexandria provides the first overview of the mosaics and pavements of Egypt that were created between the end of the fourth century BC and the sixth century AD. It presents a selection of some seventy mosaics and pavements from Alexandria and Greco-Roman Egypt. Generally little known and more often than not unpublished, these works are illustrated here in full color, some for the first time. The aim is to better understand the artistic and artisanal production of a type of decoration that played an important role within the living environment of the ancients.
The Mosaics of Alexandria
Author: Anne-Marie Guimier-Sorbets
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781649030740
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 256
Book Description
A beautifully illustrated study of mosaic art in Greco-Roman Egypt The art of the mosaic was developed by the Greeks, notably within the royal court of Macedonia, and was initially unknown to the Egyptians. Macedonian mosaicists then established busy workshops in the capital, Alexandria, and in the new towns of Greek Egypt. Under the stimulus of commissions from the Ptolemaic court, these workshops soon showed that they were capable of innovation. Beginning with pebbles, they then used tesserae of different sizes, and adopted new materials (glass, faience, paint) in order to transpose onto the floor images from grand paintings, which was the major art form of the time and was characterized by the vivid use of color. Alexandrian mosaicists were at the forefront of creativity during the Hellenistic period and their influence spread around the Mediterranean. After the Roman conquest of Egypt they adapted to the tastes of their new sponsors and to changes in architecture and were able to retain an important place within this art as it developed across the entire empire, in Rome and from east to west. The Mosaics of Alexandria provides the first overview of the mosaics and pavements of Egypt that were created between the end of the fourth century BC and the sixth century AD. It presents a selection of some seventy mosaics and pavements from Alexandria and Greco-Roman Egypt. Generally little known and more often than not unpublished, these works are illustrated here in full color, some for the first time. The aim is to better understand the artistic and artisanal production of a type of decoration that played an important role within the living environment of the ancients.
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781649030740
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 256
Book Description
A beautifully illustrated study of mosaic art in Greco-Roman Egypt The art of the mosaic was developed by the Greeks, notably within the royal court of Macedonia, and was initially unknown to the Egyptians. Macedonian mosaicists then established busy workshops in the capital, Alexandria, and in the new towns of Greek Egypt. Under the stimulus of commissions from the Ptolemaic court, these workshops soon showed that they were capable of innovation. Beginning with pebbles, they then used tesserae of different sizes, and adopted new materials (glass, faience, paint) in order to transpose onto the floor images from grand paintings, which was the major art form of the time and was characterized by the vivid use of color. Alexandrian mosaicists were at the forefront of creativity during the Hellenistic period and their influence spread around the Mediterranean. After the Roman conquest of Egypt they adapted to the tastes of their new sponsors and to changes in architecture and were able to retain an important place within this art as it developed across the entire empire, in Rome and from east to west. The Mosaics of Alexandria provides the first overview of the mosaics and pavements of Egypt that were created between the end of the fourth century BC and the sixth century AD. It presents a selection of some seventy mosaics and pavements from Alexandria and Greco-Roman Egypt. Generally little known and more often than not unpublished, these works are illustrated here in full color, some for the first time. The aim is to better understand the artistic and artisanal production of a type of decoration that played an important role within the living environment of the ancients.
Alexandria and Alexandrianism
Author: J. Paul Getty Museum
Publisher: Getty Publications
ISBN: 0892362928
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 316
Book Description
One of the great seats of learning and repositories of knowledge in the ancient world, Alexandria, and the great school of thought to which it gave its name, made a vital contribution to the development of intellectual and cultural heritage in the Occidental world. This book brings together twenty papers delivered at a symposium held at the J. Paul Getty Museum on the subject of Alexandria and Alexandrianism. Subjects range from “The Library of Alexandria and Ancient Egyptian Learning” and “Alexander’s Alexandria” to “Alexandria and the Origins of Baroque Architecture.” With nearly two hundred illustrations, this handsome volume presents some of the world’s leading scholars on the continuing influence and fascination of this great city. The distinguished contributors include Peter Green, R. R. R. Smith, and the late Bernard Bothmer.
Publisher: Getty Publications
ISBN: 0892362928
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 316
Book Description
One of the great seats of learning and repositories of knowledge in the ancient world, Alexandria, and the great school of thought to which it gave its name, made a vital contribution to the development of intellectual and cultural heritage in the Occidental world. This book brings together twenty papers delivered at a symposium held at the J. Paul Getty Museum on the subject of Alexandria and Alexandrianism. Subjects range from “The Library of Alexandria and Ancient Egyptian Learning” and “Alexander’s Alexandria” to “Alexandria and the Origins of Baroque Architecture.” With nearly two hundred illustrations, this handsome volume presents some of the world’s leading scholars on the continuing influence and fascination of this great city. The distinguished contributors include Peter Green, R. R. R. Smith, and the late Bernard Bothmer.
Ancient Mosaics
Author: Roger Ling
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Design
Languages : en
Pages : 156
Book Description
This text traces the history of mosaics, examining its chronological evolution from Hellenistic to Early Christian times and its regional variations. Topics discussed include mosaic technique and workshop organization and the relationship of mosaic to other forms of interior design.
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Design
Languages : en
Pages : 156
Book Description
This text traces the history of mosaics, examining its chronological evolution from Hellenistic to Early Christian times and its regional variations. Topics discussed include mosaic technique and workshop organization and the relationship of mosaic to other forms of interior design.
The Alexander Mosaic
Author:
Publisher:
ISBN: 9788874399260
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 136
Book Description
- Examines The Alexander Mosaic also known as the 'Battle of Issus' with photography by Luigi Spina and essays by Valeria Sampaolo and Fausto Zevi - The third volume in the Hidden Treasures series The third volume in the Hidden Treasures series launched in 2018 with the Farnese Cup examines another undoubted masterpiece: The Alexander Mosaic. It is certainly one of the great attractions for visitors who everyday throng the rooms of the National Archaeological Museum in Naples. The mosaic is made up of over one and a half million tesserae, arranged asymmetrically using the opus vermiculatum technique, which allows the figures to be outlined to make them stand out against the background. Luigi Spina gets his camera in close to the crush of men and animals to bring out all the stunning detail in the expressions, gestures, and poses that the viewer often overlooks when taking in the scene as a whole. Eyes wide open and alert, loose reins, flying whips, but also unwonted finery: sumptuous fabrics, precious ornaments, and elaborately coiffed manes. Essays by Valeria Sampaolo and Fausto Zevi close the book, placing the floor mosaic in its context and highlighting its extraordinary nature within the panorama of ancient art.
Publisher:
ISBN: 9788874399260
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 136
Book Description
- Examines The Alexander Mosaic also known as the 'Battle of Issus' with photography by Luigi Spina and essays by Valeria Sampaolo and Fausto Zevi - The third volume in the Hidden Treasures series The third volume in the Hidden Treasures series launched in 2018 with the Farnese Cup examines another undoubted masterpiece: The Alexander Mosaic. It is certainly one of the great attractions for visitors who everyday throng the rooms of the National Archaeological Museum in Naples. The mosaic is made up of over one and a half million tesserae, arranged asymmetrically using the opus vermiculatum technique, which allows the figures to be outlined to make them stand out against the background. Luigi Spina gets his camera in close to the crush of men and animals to bring out all the stunning detail in the expressions, gestures, and poses that the viewer often overlooks when taking in the scene as a whole. Eyes wide open and alert, loose reins, flying whips, but also unwonted finery: sumptuous fabrics, precious ornaments, and elaborately coiffed manes. Essays by Valeria Sampaolo and Fausto Zevi close the book, placing the floor mosaic in its context and highlighting its extraordinary nature within the panorama of ancient art.
Mosaics as History
Author: G. W. Bowersock
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674022928
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 184
Book Description
In the past century, exploration and serendipity have uncovered mosaic after mosaic in the Near East—maps, historical images and religious scenes constituting a treasure of new testimony from antiquity. In them, Bowersock finds historical evidence, illustrations of literary and mythological tradition, religious icons, and monuments to civic pride.
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674022928
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 184
Book Description
In the past century, exploration and serendipity have uncovered mosaic after mosaic in the Near East—maps, historical images and religious scenes constituting a treasure of new testimony from antiquity. In them, Bowersock finds historical evidence, illustrations of literary and mythological tradition, religious icons, and monuments to civic pride.
Mosaics of the Greek and Roman World
Author: Katherine M. D. Dunbabin
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521002301
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 412
Book Description
This book provides a comprehensive account of mosaics in the ancient world from the early pebble mosaics of Greece to the pavements of Christian churches in the East. Separate chapters in Part I cover the principal regions of the Roman Empire in turn, in order to bring out the distinctive characteristics of their mosaic workshops. Questions of technique and production, of the role of mosaics in architecture, and of their social functions and implications are treated in Part II. The book discusses both well-known works and recent finds, and balances consideration of exceptional masterpieces against standard workshop production. Two main lines of approach are followed throughout: first, the role of mosaics as a significant art form, which over an unbroken span illuminates the evolution of pictorial style better than any comparable surviving medium; and secondly, their character as works of artisan production closely linked to their architectural context.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521002301
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 412
Book Description
This book provides a comprehensive account of mosaics in the ancient world from the early pebble mosaics of Greece to the pavements of Christian churches in the East. Separate chapters in Part I cover the principal regions of the Roman Empire in turn, in order to bring out the distinctive characteristics of their mosaic workshops. Questions of technique and production, of the role of mosaics in architecture, and of their social functions and implications are treated in Part II. The book discusses both well-known works and recent finds, and balances consideration of exceptional masterpieces against standard workshop production. Two main lines of approach are followed throughout: first, the role of mosaics as a significant art form, which over an unbroken span illuminates the evolution of pictorial style better than any comparable surviving medium; and secondly, their character as works of artisan production closely linked to their architectural context.
Greek and Roman Mosaics
Author: Umberto Pappalardo
Publisher: National Geographic Books
ISBN: 0789213397
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
The best-illustrated survey of a spectacular ancient art, now available in an affordable edition Mosaic has been called “painting for eternity,” and it is in fact one of the few arts of antiquity to survive in something like its original condition and variety. Mosaic pavements with geometric and figural motifs first appeared in Greece at the end of the fifth century BC and subsequently spread throughout the classical world, from the palaces of emperors and kings to even relatively modest private homes. Across the Mediterranean, local workshops cultivated many distinctive regional styles, while traveling teams of Hellenistic craftsmen produced figural mosaics of stunning refinement, often modeled after famous paintings; indeed, their work constitutes one of our only records of classical Greek painting, which has been almost entirely lost. The styles and techniques of the ancient mosaicist’s art are given a concise yet authoritative exposition in the first part of this handsome volume. The second, and larger, part conducts the reader on a chronologically ordered tour of the most important centers of the art form’s development, from the Macedonian capital of Pella, whose compositions in natural pebbles set a high artistic standard for mosaics at the beginning of their history, to the Basilica of San Vitale at Ravenna, whose wall and vault mosaics, with their glittering vision of a triumphant Christianity, mark the transition between antiquity and the Middle Ages. Special attention is given to Pompeii and its surroundings, where the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79 preserved intact an astonishing variety of mosaics, including such ambitious figural scenes as the famous Alexander Mosaic, composed of some four million miniscule tesserae, as well as characteristically Roman pavements in black and white, and the brightly colored wall mosaics of garden grottoes. Featuring more than 230 vibrant photographs, many newly commissioned, Greek and Roman Mosaics is the first survey of its subject to be illustrated in full color. It will be an essential visual reference for every student of classical antiquity, and a source of considerable delight for art lovers.
Publisher: National Geographic Books
ISBN: 0789213397
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
The best-illustrated survey of a spectacular ancient art, now available in an affordable edition Mosaic has been called “painting for eternity,” and it is in fact one of the few arts of antiquity to survive in something like its original condition and variety. Mosaic pavements with geometric and figural motifs first appeared in Greece at the end of the fifth century BC and subsequently spread throughout the classical world, from the palaces of emperors and kings to even relatively modest private homes. Across the Mediterranean, local workshops cultivated many distinctive regional styles, while traveling teams of Hellenistic craftsmen produced figural mosaics of stunning refinement, often modeled after famous paintings; indeed, their work constitutes one of our only records of classical Greek painting, which has been almost entirely lost. The styles and techniques of the ancient mosaicist’s art are given a concise yet authoritative exposition in the first part of this handsome volume. The second, and larger, part conducts the reader on a chronologically ordered tour of the most important centers of the art form’s development, from the Macedonian capital of Pella, whose compositions in natural pebbles set a high artistic standard for mosaics at the beginning of their history, to the Basilica of San Vitale at Ravenna, whose wall and vault mosaics, with their glittering vision of a triumphant Christianity, mark the transition between antiquity and the Middle Ages. Special attention is given to Pompeii and its surroundings, where the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79 preserved intact an astonishing variety of mosaics, including such ambitious figural scenes as the famous Alexander Mosaic, composed of some four million miniscule tesserae, as well as characteristically Roman pavements in black and white, and the brightly colored wall mosaics of garden grottoes. Featuring more than 230 vibrant photographs, many newly commissioned, Greek and Roman Mosaics is the first survey of its subject to be illustrated in full color. It will be an essential visual reference for every student of classical antiquity, and a source of considerable delight for art lovers.
Ptolemaic Paintings and Mosaics and the Alexandrian Style
Author: Blanche R. Brown
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Alexandria (Egypt)
Languages : en
Pages : 182
Book Description
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Alexandria (Egypt)
Languages : en
Pages : 182
Book Description
The Nile Mosaic of Palestrina
Author: Paul G.P. Meyboom
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004283838
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 502
Book Description
The famous Nile Mosaic of Palestrina, ancient Praeneste in central Italy, dating to c. 100 B.C., is one of the earliest large mosaics which have been preserved from the classical world. It presents a unique, comprehensive picture of Egypt and Nubia. The interpretation of the mosaic is disputed, suggestions ranging from an exotic decoration to a topographical picture or a religious allegory. The present study demonstrates that the mosaic depicts rituals connected with Isis and Osiris and the yearly Nile flood. The presence of these Egyptian religious scenes at Praeneste can be explained by the assimilation of isis and Fortuna, the tutelary goddess of Praeneste, and by the interpretation of the mosaic as a symbol of divine providence.
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004283838
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 502
Book Description
The famous Nile Mosaic of Palestrina, ancient Praeneste in central Italy, dating to c. 100 B.C., is one of the earliest large mosaics which have been preserved from the classical world. It presents a unique, comprehensive picture of Egypt and Nubia. The interpretation of the mosaic is disputed, suggestions ranging from an exotic decoration to a topographical picture or a religious allegory. The present study demonstrates that the mosaic depicts rituals connected with Isis and Osiris and the yearly Nile flood. The presence of these Egyptian religious scenes at Praeneste can be explained by the assimilation of isis and Fortuna, the tutelary goddess of Praeneste, and by the interpretation of the mosaic as a symbol of divine providence.
Mosaics in the Medieval World
Author: Liz James
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108508596
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 1748
Book Description
In this book, Liz James offers a comprehensive history of wall mosaics produced in the European and Islamic middle ages. Taking into account a wide range of issues, including style and iconography, technique and material, and function and patronage, she examines mosaics within their historical context. She asks why the mosaic was such a popular medium and considers how mosaics work as historical 'documents' that tell us about attitudes and beliefs in the medieval world. The book is divided into two part. Part I explores the technical aspects of mosaics, including glass production, labour and materials, and costs. In Part II, James provides a chronological history of mosaics, charting the low and high points of mosaic art up until its abrupt end in the late middle ages. Written in a clear and engaging style, her book will serve as an essential resource for scholars and students of medieval mosaics.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108508596
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 1748
Book Description
In this book, Liz James offers a comprehensive history of wall mosaics produced in the European and Islamic middle ages. Taking into account a wide range of issues, including style and iconography, technique and material, and function and patronage, she examines mosaics within their historical context. She asks why the mosaic was such a popular medium and considers how mosaics work as historical 'documents' that tell us about attitudes and beliefs in the medieval world. The book is divided into two part. Part I explores the technical aspects of mosaics, including glass production, labour and materials, and costs. In Part II, James provides a chronological history of mosaics, charting the low and high points of mosaic art up until its abrupt end in the late middle ages. Written in a clear and engaging style, her book will serve as an essential resource for scholars and students of medieval mosaics.