Islamic Re-use of Antique Mosaic Tesserae

Abstract

Such large quantities of antique mosaics survive around the Mediterranean that an obvious question is whether they had any influence on decorative art in the Middle Ages, in style or material. This question has sometimes been studied for the West and Byzantium; but by the Millennium, it was Islam rather than Byzantium or any of the states in the West that occupied the largest number of mosaic-rich sites of the Roman world. What might Islamic re-use of antique mosaic tesserae tell us about the further development of this medium? This paper surveys the evidence for the re-use of antique tesserae, examining some of the ways in which the medium was used, on the outside and inside of buildings, and on both floors and walls. It discusses the various possible sources of the tesserae, the evidence for mosaic trading far and wide, and tesserae collection as war booty. It concludes with an overview of the specifically Islamic speciality of jigsawed cut-stone mosaic portals and façades, which were still being constructed in 16th-century Cairo - a cleverer and more sophisticated form of mosaic than any to be seen in Christendom, and surely using ancient marble offcuts.

Keywords

• marble
• re-use
• mosaics
• jerusalem
• damascus
• cairo