Editing Fine art (section)

==== Mosaics ====
{{Main|Mosaic}}
Mosaics are images formed with small pieces of stone or glass, called ''[[tessera]]e''.  They can be decorative or functional.  An artist who designs and makes mosaics is called a mosaic artist or a mosaicist. Ancient [[Ancient Greece|Greeks]] and [[Roman architecture|Romans]] created realistic mosaics. Mythological subjects, or scenes of hunting or other pursuits of the wealthy, were popular as the centrepieces of a larger geometric design, with strongly emphasized borders.<ref>{{cite book |last=Capizzi |first=Padre |title=Piazza Armerina: The Mosaics and Morgantina |year=1989 |publisher=International Specialized Book Service Inc.}}</ref> Early Christian [[basilica]]s from the 4th century onwards were decorated with wall and ceiling mosaics. The most famous [[Byzantium|Byzantine]] basilicas decorated with mosaics are the [[Basilica of San Vitale]] from [[Ravenna]] (Italy) and [[Hagia Sophia]] from [[Istanbul]] (Turkey).

<gallery widths="170px" heights="170px">

MosaicEpiphany-of-Dionysus.jpg|''Epiphany of [[Dionysus]]''; 2nd century AD; from the Villa of Dionysus; [[Archeological Museum of Dion]]
P1170845 Louvre jugement de Pâris Ma3443 rwk.jpg|''[[Judgment of Paris]]''; 115–150 AD, from the Atrium House triclinium in [[Antioch-on-the-Orontes]]
Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore abside a Roma.jpg|Apse of the ''[[Santa Maria Maggiore]]'' church in [[Rome]], decorated in the 5th century with this glamorous mosaic
Emilia Ravenna5 tango7174.jpg|Interior of the [[Basilica of San Vitale]] from [[Ravenna]] (Italy), decorated with elaborate mosaics
</gallery>