The word Mosaico (mosaico or mosaicism) is transliterated from Mosaic and derives from the name "Musa", a goddess in ancient Greek mythology who mastered the art of poetry, meaning "artistic work that is worth pondering and requires patience".
Mosaic art is actually one of the oldest art styles in the history of human art, and it almost accompanied the emergence of art history.
The evolution of mosaic art
The history of mosaics dates back more than 3,000 years BC to the plains of Mesopotamia, where mosaic-decorated walls appeared, more than five thousand years ago.
In Sicily in the 3rd century BC, improved mosaic decorative art works were found. The mosaic process was further enriched by the use of small squares of cut glass and marble, replaced by pebbles as inlay materials, inlaid into colorful patterns.
Ancient Greek period
Although the craftsmanship at the time was slightly rough, these collages of colorful decorative patterns soon spread to ancient Greece, where the Greeks began to collect pebbles, smooth with water, use different shades and shapes to create wonderful geometric patterns, introduce more colors and shades, and began to use stained glass to make larger inlays.
Later, the ancient Romans brought mosaic art to various countries and cities along the Mediterranean coast. With the development of Christianity, Christians used mosaics to paint the story of Jesus in order to spread Christian culture, thus leaving traces of mosaic art in many churches around the world. Places like st. Louis Catholic Cathedral in the United States, russia's Hermitage and The Church of the Spilled Blood can be seen in other places.
During the Byzantine period, after Constantine the Great officially recognized Christianity as the state religion, mosaic mosaic art really became popular and developed rapidly, which can be called the golden age of mosaic art. They would use expensive materials such as gold and precious stones, and they would also create a completely new mosaic material, enamel. No longer limited to simple combination collage, craftsmen carved mosaic rubble on the whole stone, and the uneven surface of the rubble shone brightly under the refraction of the sun, and with gold leaf inlaid on the ceiling or window of the building, it showed the unique byzantine period of extravagant art style.
The emergence of micro-mosaic jewelry
With the continuous evolution and development of mosaic craftsmanship, a superb micro-mosaic mosaic inlay process has emerged, which is not only applied to large-scale decorations such as walls, murals, ceilings and floors, but also applied to jewelry craftsmanship, resulting in the very fine mosaic jewelry that was once popular in the 18th and 19th centuries in european aristocratic circles.
Compared with the traditional mosaic process, the mosaic pieces produced by the micro mosaic process are extremely tiny and thin, and they are spliced by very tiny mosaic pieces to form a pattern. Craftsmen need to finely process each component of the mosaic pattern, rolling different colors of glass into small strips of various shapes; then blending, splicing, sintering, and cutting out sections; finally, craftsmen have to pick out suitable small sections, arrange them in their desired positions, and form a delicate painting, the whole process is not only time-consuming, but each step can only be completed by hand through the craftsman's naked eye. Therefore, the inlay craftsman not only needs to be skilled in inlaying, but also must have a certain degree of artistic accomplishment in order to perfectly grasp the combination of color and shape.
Among them, Faberge jewelry is a model of gorgeous and luxurious mosaic jewelry. At that time, Moscow, Kiev and London all opened independent workshops made of jewelry under the personal guidance of Faberge, and the Easter eggs produced by their workshops were particularly exquisite and were regarded as treasures by Russian and international royal families.
Since each piece is done by hand, each one is a unique and non-replicable work of art. The smaller and tighter the inlaid pieces, the more advanced the materials used (natural gemstones, gold and silver foils, etc.), the more unique the patterns inlaid (bright colors, rare subject matter), the better the state of preservation, the higher the collection value.
Fashion trends are back
Due to the complexity of its skills, the micro-mosaic process was once facing loss, and because the spliced particles are very small and separated from each other, it is easy to be damaged in the preservation process, and now, the antique micro-mosaic jewelry with complete appearance is also less and less and expensive.
But in 1933, Van Cleef & Arpels patented a patent for a secret mosaic method, which was inspired by micro-mosaic mosaics. Precious gemstones specially cut and not more than 2 mm in diameter are set into a well-laid metal grid, from the first to the last, with tight seams and no traces, which is similar to the concept of micro-mosaic.
Nowadays, with the continuous updating of materials, micro-mosaics have quickly broken through the category of traditional materials, and the alternating use of enamel, gemstones, glass, and precious metals has formed a more textured and color-impact jewelry art, allowing micro-mosaic jewelry to bloom brilliant flowers in modern times and provide a richer jewelry experience.