Opus vermiculatum

The Opus vermiculatum (Latin opus " work" or "technique"; Synonym: Pavimentum vermiculatum ) is a mosaic technique, be considered in the contour lines around shapes, for which tesserae are used. The tesserae were often square, but could have other shapes. The main purpose of Opus vermiculatum technique is to "paint in stone".

This can be one or more rows that are in Opus tessellatum in contrast to the background.

The name Opus vermiculatum (plural: opera vermiculata ) means vermiform ( vermis = Latin for worm), so please refer to the worm-like, undulating course of Mosaiksteinchenreihen that are typical for this technique.

The Opus vermiculatum mosaic technique is referred to as one of the most challenging and most sophisticated techniques of mosaic Roman mosaics.

Opus is mainly used for figure compositions and made ​​from very small up to a few millimeters in size, small stones (compared to the Opus tessellatum ) to allow fine color gradations and to follow the contours, as well as the outline of the characters' vermiculatum.

The Opus vermiculatum technique is mainly used for the central figure compositions or used for the central mosaic, which is then surrounded by geometric or floral motifs, which are executed in the coarser Opus tessellatum technique for the much larger mosaic. Occasionally, only essential details, such as faces of the figures, executed in Opus vermiculatum, while the mosaic is otherwise executed in Opus tessellatum.

Usually should match the Opus vermiculatum the main subject and the foreground details are emphasized. To this end, a smooth and flowing halo effect was used.

History

The Opus vermiculatum technique originated in Greece and was later than the other mosaic techniques. The first example is the Sophilos mosaic in Thmuis that is dated around 200 BC.

Opus vermiculatum spread throughout the Hellenistic world, including Egypt. It was used in Egypt from the late 3rd to the 1st century BC for the grave decoration. In Syria, this mosaic technique was still very long time.

The Nile mosaic shows a very sophisticated use of colors and a very sophisticated technology. This may indicate that this technique is based on paintings.

The earliest known example of an Opus vermiculatum mosaic is located in the Greco-Roman Museum in Alexandria, this mosaic portrait of a woman is the personification of the city of Alexandria and was built around 200 BC

End of the 1st century BC, the Romans had adopted this technology along with the other mosaic techniques, possibly by enlisted Greek mosaic artist for this work. In Pompeii many great mosaics were found in Opus vermiculatum technology.

The use of Opus vermiculatum went back to the 1st century AD, but was still used until the 4th century as the main stylistic device for fine Roman mosaics. Then, the Mosaics became more impressionistic, while the color reflections of the glass tesserae took advantage of the better fit tessellatum to Opus. With the ever-widening spread of mosaic decorations for walls and vaults during the early Christian period the Opus vermiculatum technique was abandoned altogether - to provide increasingly becoming more impressionistic Opus tessellatum technique that looked impressive at longer distances.