6 ms·

They mosaics look quite busy by today's standards. Guess they had less else to look at.

rf15 2y ago
Iirc creating detailed compositions on mosaic was considered an incredible skill, and artwork like it would show off your wealth and connections.
- interludead 2y ago
  A mark of elite craftsmanship
flir 2y ago
Love that first image - the ground movement has made it look like a piece of fabric. Busy, but still harmonious. If I "step back" (eg the last image in the article), I don't get a sense of visual clutter, I get a sense of a coherent, balanced design. This, although from a later period, is a good example of what I'm getting at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_mosaics#/media/File:Basilica_of_San_Vitale_-_Lamb_of_God_mosaic.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_mosaics#/media/File:... Maybe it's something to do with the use of symmetry (I'm hoping a trained artist swings by and explains my own comment to me).
marginalia_nu 2y ago
Worth keeping in mind the mosaics themselves are pretty large, and also indoor features typically illuminated by grease lamps or braziers, so you'd never see the whole thing all at once in bright electric lighting like we do today.
- interludead 2y ago
  People would have experienced these works more gradually
mbivert 2y ago
The little I know about contemporary mosaic[0] is about as busy. Perhaps even more, as we now have wider color palettes. Compared to contemporary architecture, yes, I'd agree though. But it's on par with contemporary fine-arts. [0]: https://www.instagram.com/ferraribacci/ https://www.instagram.com/ferraribacci/
082349872349872 2y ago
Those were people making those mosaics, not machines. We like to turn things into code (and "configuration languages", and package managers, and licenses, and...), why should mosaicists, if they're already spending all day picking and setting little bits of stone, not want to create images? Lagniappe: https://www.w3.org/MarkUp/html-test/ncsa/whats-new.html https://www.w3.org/MarkUp/html-test/ncsa/whats-new.html
interludead 2y ago
But it's possible that, in the Roman era, with fewer forms of visual entertainment, these elaborate scenes served not just as decoration but as storytelling devices
roughly 2y ago
Ironically, our sort of monochrome minimalist white marble aesthetic owes itself to a misreading of Greeks and Roman design. The more we dig up, the more we find how colorful classical antiquity was.

rf15 2y ago

Iirc creating detailed compositions on mosaic was considered an incredible skill, and artwork like it would show off your wealth and connections.

interludead 2y ago
A mark of elite craftsmanship

flir 2y ago

Love that first image - the ground movement has made it look like a piece of fabric. Busy, but still harmonious. If I "step back" (eg the last image in the article), I don't get a sense of visual clutter, I get a sense of a coherent, balanced design. This, although from a later period, is a good example of what I'm getting at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_mosaics#/media/File:Basilica_of_San_Vitale_-_Lamb_of_God_mosaic.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_mosaics#/media/File:... Maybe it's something to do with the use of symmetry (I'm hoping a trained artist swings by and explains my own comment to me).

marginalia_nu 2y ago

Worth keeping in mind the mosaics themselves are pretty large, and also indoor features typically illuminated by grease lamps or braziers, so you'd never see the whole thing all at once in bright electric lighting like we do today.

interludead 2y ago
People would have experienced these works more gradually

mbivert 2y ago

The little I know about contemporary mosaic[0] is about as busy. Perhaps even more, as we now have wider color palettes. Compared to contemporary architecture, yes, I'd agree though. But it's on par with contemporary fine-arts. [0]: https://www.instagram.com/ferraribacci/ https://www.instagram.com/ferraribacci/

082349872349872 2y ago

Those were people making those mosaics, not machines. We like to turn things into code (and "configuration languages", and package managers, and licenses, and...), why should mosaicists, if they're already spending all day picking and setting little bits of stone, not want to create images? Lagniappe: https://www.w3.org/MarkUp/html-test/ncsa/whats-new.html https://www.w3.org/MarkUp/html-test/ncsa/whats-new.html

interludead 2y ago

But it's possible that, in the Roman era, with fewer forms of visual entertainment, these elaborate scenes served not just as decoration but as storytelling devices

roughly 2y ago

Ironically, our sort of monochrome minimalist white marble aesthetic owes itself to a misreading of Greeks and Roman design. The more we dig up, the more we find how colorful classical antiquity was.