Istanbul: A City on Two Continents - The Wise World Traveler: Becoming a Part of All that You Meet - page 216

Figure 14.4. Grand Bazaar
WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO BYZANTINE MOSAICS?
Unlike most pictorial representations, a mosaic does not mix or mingle colors. A mosaic is
a picture formed of small colored stones or bits of colored stones. As is often said, the es-
sence of a mosaic is that the bits and pieces of the picture touch but do not mingle. Romans
were masters of the mosaic; some were composed of almost microscopic shards. Byzanti-
ne churches and public buildings used mosaics, to great and dazzling effects. In the typical
Byzantine church, high on the ceiling of the central dome is a mosaic of Christ, the pivot of
the universe. Angels, saints, patriarchs, and kings spill across the walls, sometimes against