City
Damascus: mosaic materials and archive records
At Damascus’s Great Umayyad Mosque, glass gave wall mosaics a wider colour palette than other materials. A thin metal sheet between glass layers gave some pieces a gold or silver appearance; the French Ministry of Culture’s account also records an unfinished 1928–29 copying project.
At a glance
- Glass palette
- For wall mosaics, glass offered a broader colour range than other materials, though it was more fragile than stone.[1]
- Visible underpainting
- The wall still shows remnants of the colour guide where tesserae are missing.[2]
- Project records
- The 1928–29 copying effort recorded nine fragments; the complete set of records was rediscovered between 1999 and 2006.[3]
A place worth remembering
Glass and metal
Glass was the usual choice for wall mosaics. The French Ministry of Culture’s account says it was more delicate than stone yet allowed a far wider range of colours than other materials. Some pieces enclosed a thin metal sheet between glass layers to produce gold and silver effects.[1]
Colours beneath the mosaic
Where tesserae have fallen, remnants of the mosaicists’ colour guide can still be seen on the wall.[2]
From wall to archive
In 1928–29 three young Syrian artists reproduced the mosaics one tessera at a time, but the project was left unfinished and just nine fragments were recorded. After decades in archives, the complete set of these records was rediscovered between 1999 and 2006.[3]
Good to know
A few clear answers before you explore.
Why use glass for wall mosaics despite its fragility?
The French Ministry of Culture says that, although more fragile than stone, it offered a much broader palette than other materials. Enclosed metal also gave some glass pieces their gold or silver appearance.[1]
What can the underpainting reveal?
It shows the simplified colour guide mosaicists used before laying tesserae; pigment traces remain where pieces fell away.[2]
When was the complete set of project records rediscovered?
The French Ministry of Culture dates the rediscovery in archives to between 1999 and 2006.[3]
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