Opus sectile

Opus sectile is a form of pietra dura popularized in the ancient and medieval Roman world where materials were cut and inlaid into walls and floors to create motifs or patterns. Common materials were marble, mother of pearl, and glass.

The materials were cut in thin pieces, polished, then trimmed further according to a chosen pattern.
Unlike tessellated mosaic techniques, where the placement of very small uniformly sized pieces forms a picture, opus sectile pieces are much larger and can be shaped to define large parts of the design.

Back to Historic & Famous Floors →

Source: Wikipedia · Image: Wikimedia Commons · Public domain

ARTOFLOOR

A walk through art history.

InformationAbout Contact Privacy Policy Terms of Use Newsletter

Every artwork, image, biography, and date is drawn from Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons, used under public-domain and Creative Commons licenses. No content is AI-generated.

Stories from the museumOccasional emails. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.