Ceramics-Silikáty 58 (4) 308-313 (2014)

CHARACTERIZATION OF HISTORIC MOSAIC AT PFEIFFER-KRAL SEPULCHER, JABLONEC NAD NISOU: A STUDY OF THE MORTAR AND TESSERAE ORIGIN

The art of mosaic in the Czech lands in the 19^th century generally reflects the religious sentiment of the artists and their customers. As they are very expensive and require a particular technique and technology, the mosaics are not commonly used as a decorative part of architecture. Exceptions may be found in the decoration of churches or municipal monuments. They are also specifically used on the sepulchers of significant families. Before the start of restoration work on Jablonec nad Nisou mosaic historically used materials were studied. The characterization of mortar and glass tesserae helps to substitute, as closely as possible, the missing original ones. The work on material characterization concludes in high probability that Italian glass tesserae were mounted into “old Italian mortar” style.

Keywords: Mosaic, Tesserae, Mortar, Characterization