1. Mosaic Vocabulary
1) Mosaic- Is the art of creating images for decorative art or interior decoration with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials.
-The earliest known examples of mosaics were found at a temple building in Mesopotamia and are dated to 3rd century BC. They used these to tell a story (functional).
-More common mosaic examples were made by the Greeks and Romans in the 4th century BC. They adopted the idea and mass produced mosaics as art/decorative pieces.
2) Tessera- An individual tile, usually formed in the shape of a cube, used in creating a mosaic. The plural is Tesserae
-Tesserae were manufactured in 200 BC and were used to give extra details and range of colors to mosaic works. By using tesserae (sometimes only a few millimeters in size) mosaics could now imitate paintings but last the wear of time much longer.
3) Grout- A thin mortar used to fill cracks and crevices in masonry. It is a construction material used to connect sections of pre-cast concrete, fill voids, and seal joints (like those between tiles).
-Grout is generally a mixture of water, cement, sand, often color tint, and sometimes fine gravel.