It's such a pity my camera was not playing the game. I'm not sure what is wrong with it but the picture quality is rubbish. Still, it gives you an idea of the immense skill need to make some of the mosaics. This first one for example, is staggeringly beautiful. Each tiny tisseraei placed to give light or shadow, a slight change in colour. The artist must have endless boxes filled with mini pieces, each one holding the perfect shade for him to 'paint' the scene. He had a sense of humour too, placing tiny mice in the scene, even a little perfectly formed bejewelled snail gliding along a branch. Breathtaking.
Fish were an important theme in mosaics. Due to the fact, I expect, that most of the cities were on the coast, and fish being very prominent in their diet. The difference in quality was obvious. Some quite naive and others very skilfully executed. There also seemed to be a 'Tiles R us' business going on too! The boarders of the room tiled quite crudely by perhaps the builders. Leaving spaces for the more delicate pieces produced by artisans. What a novel idea!
