The word “mosaic” is derived from the Greek: “patient work, worthy of the Muses (gods of the arts).”

The earliest known mosaics date back to approximately 4,000 B.C. to ancient Mesopotamia, inhabited by the Sumerians. Mosaics from this time period were made from cones of clay.

Mosaics, as we know them today, were developed by the Greek civilization. The Greeks developed both pebble mosaics and the technique of setting flat fragments in mortar. The imagery included mythology, floral designs and animal motifs.

After Rome conquered Greece, mosaics entered into the Greco-Roman period, which lasted from Alexander the Great to the fall of Rome. During this period, mosaics were chiefly used to decorate the floors, baths, walls and temples of well-to-do Romans. During the Imperial Roman period mosaics had become very detailed and the imagery reflected Roman society. Many beautiful mosaics were developed in Pompeii during this time.

After the fall of the Roman Empire (4th century AD) mosaic art became a part of the Paleo-Christian era (Byzantine), which lasted until the 12th and 13th centuries.
This era is referred to as the Byzantine era of mosaics and covers the period from the 5th century through the fall of Constantinople in 1453.

Mosaic art reached it highest level of quality and mosaic artists devoted their time to decorating the walls, ceilings and facades of the palaces and great churches. The themes were primarily Christian in nature and the mosaics exhibited brilliant gold tessarae with tiles being slanted at certain angles to maximize the golden reflections of light. This was truly the “golden era” of ancient mosaics.