Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
School of Art, Art History, and Design: Theses and Student Creative Work
Articles 1 - 1 of 1
Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
Between Global And Local: Geometric Patterns Of Gallic Roman Mosaics, Rebecca Salem
Between Global And Local: Geometric Patterns Of Gallic Roman Mosaics, Rebecca Salem
School of Art, Art History, and Design: Theses and Student Creative Work
It is often assumed that mosaicists working in different parts of the Roman Empire utilized specific repertoires of geometric patterns, specific to that locality, which formed distinct regional styles. Accordingly, scholarship has sought to assign particular layouts and ornamentation to different areas around the Empire: illusionistic patterns mimicking architectural elements such as coffering in the Eastern Roman Empire, black and white scenes of imagery with no geometric designs in central Italy, and large figural scenes bordered with geometric patterns in North Africa. But this existing model of regional difference does not explain the similarities that can also be seen. For …