Saw a Roman mosaic in a totally new light after visiting the British Museum

I used to think those old floor mosaics were just pretty pictures. But then I stood in front of the Lycurgus Cup exhibit in London and saw how they used tiny glass tesserae to catch light. That cup is from the 4th century AD and it changes color depending on how you hold it. Made me realize mosaics weren't just decoration, they were engineering. Has anyone else had a site visit completely flip how you see a find?

2 comments

2 Comments

andrew_nguyen6414d ago

See it a bit different actually. I mean those mosaics were definitely impressive craft but calling them engineering feels like a stretch. A 4th century cup changing color is cool but that's more about materials science than what I'd call real engineering like load bearing or structural stuff.

drew80514d ago

Just bring a small LED flashlight next time, it picks up way more detail in those tesserae than museum lighting shows.