Mosaics date back to the dawn of civilization at Mesopotamia, where architects used small colored objects to decorate the temples in Uruk in the forth millennium B.C. The Greeks and Romans used pebbles and shells to make pictorial composition around the fourth century B.C.
Early Greco-Roman artisans began making mosaics with pieces of colored glass broken off in different shapes from thin sheets baked in a kiln.
This mini mosaic in brilliant blue smalti was inspired by the fabulous Byzantine mosaics of old - where soaring cathedral ceilings were voluptuously decorated in highly detailed mosaic artwork, with intense colours and rich yellow gold smalti displaying the wealth and power of the Church at that time.
 
This small mosaic is crafted from smalti, - specilised mosaic tesserae made from richly coloured glass. Originally developed for Byzantine mosaics, the molten glass is poured into flat slabs which are then broken into individual smalti. The shiny gold smalti is actually 18 carat gold leaf smalti.
 
The mosaic measures  approx. 10cm x 10cm. It comes with a small wooden easel for display.
 
This mosaic is crafted on plywood. It should not be allowed to get wet. 
If you would like a mini mosaic that can be placed outside, please contact me.