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Use of Mosaics as a Byzantine Art Form
One of the characteristics of our church that makes it so unique among American Orthodox Churches is our beautiful mosaic art. While there are a few other Orthodox churches that use mosaics such as the Annun-ciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Columbus, Ohio, and St. Sophia in Washington D.C. the vast majority of Orthodox Churches use paint-ed iconography. Actually, the use of mosaics is an older tradition which throughout Christian history has adorned many of our most fa-mous Orthodox Churches to include the magnificent Hagia Sophia.
arly mosaic art was used to decorate the floors and walls in both the ancient Hellenic and Roman temples as well as secular buildings with the earliest known use of mosaic decoration at Pompeii. (Fig. 2) While those art forms were of pagan character, the use of mosaic art and architecture both in the East-ern and Western Churches came to maturity in the Christian Byzantine Empire and spread to the western countries that received Christianity from Byzantium…