Mosaic Workor Mosaics

Mosaic Work, or Mosaics (mediaeval Greek, mousaikos, "artistic"), inlaid work formed by a collection of small pieces of some hard material, especially coloured stone or glass. The most ancient form of mosaic, specimens of which have been obtained from Nineveh and Egypt, was applied to the ornamentation of ivory furniture; in this work small pieces of glass, or lapis lazuli, are placed in holes separated only by thin partitions. At a later date mosaics were used on a much larger scale. After a period of decline from the 8tb to the 11th century the art revived, reaching its full development in the 13th century, when the beautiful designs in the apse of S. Maria Maggiore, at Rome, were executed by the disciples of Cimabue. In the next century, however, the art fell into neglect owing to the revival of painting, and the introduction of frescoes. At the present time the making of mosaics is a successful industry in Italy and France and, to some extent, also in Russia.