ABSTRACT

Liz James addresses the dimension of cross-culturality of the mosaic medium. She challenges the predominant opinion that by the thirteenth century mosaic as a medium was synonymous with Byzantine artistic production. She also questions the common understanding of what is ‘Byzantine–looking’. She puts forward the opinion that mosaic was rather tied in with Early Christianity, Rome and the apostles, and that this was the main reason for reproducing and emulating this rather expensive and time-consuming medium.