Fun Holidays - World Tessellation Day

A type of decorative and applied art in which pieces of stone, smalt, glass, ceramic tiles and other materials are used to create images is called mosaic. This painting technique appeared around 4000 BC. during the Sumerian civilization. In Mesopotamia, mosaics were used to decorate the columns of palaces, interior items and the tombs of kings. To create the panels, ivory, shells and stone fragments were used. The first pebble mosaics with floral patterns, figures of birds and animals date back to the 5th century. BC. During Antiquity, craftsmen began to lay out panels of colored glass. Mosaic as a type of monumental and decorative painting received its further development in Byzantium during the period of the spread of Christianity, and in Europe - in the modern era. At the beginning of the twentieth century. Antoni Gaudí invented the trencadís technique. This “broken” mosaic was made up of pieces of ceramic tiles, tiles and dishes. Gaudi first used it in the design of Park Güell in Barcelona. In Ancient Rome, the floors, ceilings and walls of houses were decorated with canvases, lithostrotes, fragments of marble and pebbles. The pieces of stones and other materials that were used to create mosaic panels were called tesserae. This word formed the basis of tessellation - the name of decorative and applied arts in English. The beauty of mosaics, their shapes and patterns inspired the writer Emily Grosvenor to establish the holiday in 2016. On her initiative, June 17 is celebrated as World Tessellation Day. The "Battle of Poltava" is considered the first large-scale mosaic work in the history of Russian art. Created in 1764 by M.V. Lomonosov panels decorate the building of the Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg. 12 years earlier, the scientist made an icon of the Mother of God from smalt, opaque colored glass. In total, Lomonosov and his students made about 40 mosaic paintings. The technique, which made it possible to create beautiful and expensive images, has long been used in the decoration of Christian churches. The panels of the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood and St. Isaac's Cathedral are considered masterpieces of world culture. They owe their appearance to professionals from the Academy of Arts and its mosaic workshop, opened in 1851. After October 1917, panels depicting the leader of the proletariat and other leaders of the USSR began to decorate the facades and interiors of public buildings. Monumental paintings located on the walls of government buildings glorified the feat of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War, the struggle for the harvest and the Stakhanov movement. Today, repeating mosaic patterns are used in residential decor, such as kitchen backsplashes, vanity countertops and bathroom walls. Panels decorate swimming pools, restaurant interiors, bar counters in cafes and hotel receptions, and are a mandatory element of hamam decoration. The mosaic on the facade of the building gives it a unique look, distinguishing it from similar buildings. Repeating patterns are used in paving sidewalks and creating floor coverings, to decorate the Moscow metro, historical monuments and fountains. Mosaic Day calls for attention to the ancient decorative and applied art, which brings beauty into human life, changing the world and space around.