tour 3 of 14
Pattern
Mosaic tiles
Mosaic is the art of making pictures or patterns using many
small coloured pieces of glass or tile. The ancient Mesopotamians
made mosaic decorations about 4000 years ago, and the Romans were
well known for their beautiful mosaic floors.
This floor is from a medieval abbey in Yorkshire, England, where
Cistercian or 'white' monks lived and worshipped. It uses 384 tiles
of different shapes in a repeating pattern. When first made, the
tiles were glazed dark green and yellow but some of the mosaic has
been lost.