How Did Ancient Greek Art Build Mosaics?

This is the Battle of Centaurs and Wild Beasts from Hadrian’s villa at Tivoli. This was found in the dining room of the villa. It was made out of mosaics and was made around 125 CE. This piece of art is currently located in the Staatliche museum in Berlin. The technique used to complete this artwork is opus tessallatum in which tesserae is outlined around the motif, contrasting with the background and casting shadows to the motif itself. It is a common technique used in mosaics during the roman period. The mosaic is measured with a height of 26 inches and width of 37 inches.

The mosaic is in the form of Flavian and Hadrian style of the roman period. During this particular roman period, artworks were inspired by the ancient Greek art and thus they appeared to incorporate many elements from ancient Greek art. The floor mosaic’s main subject is the male centaur as both the tiger and the leopard are staring ferociously at him, inducing people to center on the male centaur. The male centaur is trying to attack the tiger with a rock. And that the leopard is standing on the flat surface of the rock behind. Another female centaur who is injured severely is depicted on the mosaics. On the right corner, there is a lion being depicted and is appeared to be dead.

The lines and shapes of male centaur’s facial

This provides the floor mosaics more interactions with the viewers. The three-dimensionality conveys a realistic representation of the battle scene and thus allow the viewers to experience the battle when they stand on top of the floor mosaics. Also, the triangular shape rock on the left is composed of multiple shades of brown to create more details of the rock. This further supports the illusion of three-dimensionality. The rocky landscapes give a sense of wildness and remoteness, reflecting the central theme of the