Mosaic from the Alhambra's Hall of the Ambassadors
Floor plan with mosaic of Sullivan's Wainwright Tomb
Pugin's design for church tiles, hand-drawn and colored
Woodcut illustrating wall construction from Steedman's 1521 edition of Vitruvius
Mosaics & Tiles
Glazed or polished ceramic tiles have been used for wall decoration and as pavements since Biblical times.
The art was particularly well developed by Islamic craftsmen, who sometimes covered entire mosque exteriors and interiors with striking tilework.
This type of decoration was introduced into Europe by the Moors, who ruled southern Spain from the 8th to the 15th centuries. From Spain it spread to Italy, and eventually northward throughout the continent and British Isles.
Mosaics are images, either pictorial or abstract, made from fragments of ceramics, glass, or stone. The walls and floors of ancient Roman and Byzantine structures were often decorated with intricate and beautiful mosaics.
