Byzantine Floor Mosaic

Type Object Region Byzantine Empire Time 1180–1190

Floor mosaics laid in Byzantine churches and palaces in the 1180s, mainly geometric and vegetal patterns with occasional Christ, saints, or imperial …

Timeline

1181–1185Constantinople · Byzantine EmpireAround the accession of Andronikos I, the capital and great monasteries still commissioned local workshops to lay geometric and vegetal floor mosaics, continuing the tesserae technique inherited from late Roman times.
1186–1190Nicaea · BithyniaWhen churches in Asia Minor and Balkan towns were renovated, the floor mosaic model was retained, with patterns becoming more formulaic, forming a clearly hierarchical visual order of worship space together with wall mosaics.

Sources

Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium — Alexander Kazhdan et al. (1991)