Mosaics Are Pretty Cool

One of my classes at school has an exchange set up with an American school (in Vermont, I believe), and had a "Honey Festival" for while the students were here. The French sold honey, and the Americans sold maple syrup. There were also a few other stalls with nice food, including a Spanish chef school, and a local(ish) restaurant which specialises in Roman cuisine. I did a tasting; it was, indeed, delicious.

Also present was a 'mosaicist' - if that is a word. One of the teachers told me that he was really interesting to talk to about the mosaics, so I went and asked a bit about them. He told me a whole heap of interesting things, most of which I have forgotten! But, I did learn that the Romans had sweet under floor heating (so hot that they had to wear wooden jandal-style footwear!), and bathed by covering themselves in olive oil, going into a very hot room to open their pores and let impurities come out (or something similar) and then scraping it off. Also learnt that, back in the day, mosaicists were specialists. For example, one would specialise in faces, another in clothes, one in animals... That way, what would take this mosaicist about a year by himself was done fairly fast in a team.



Here we have the mosaicist (on the right) and 2 students who were keen to have a go at sizing the stones. Yep, this dude starts with big rocks and uses the hammer to break them down to mosaic size! Am totally in awe of his patience. And his knowledge of the history of Roman life. And dedication to his job... although, he says it's a passion, and he has never worked a day in his life. (So, retirement age = not such an issue for him!)