The book “Geometric Patterns from Roman Mosaics” by Robert Field is, despite its small volume (about 60 pages), an extraordinary item. The Reader is provided with a list of more interesting Roman mosaics and at the same time a tutorial on creating ancient compositions on a sheet of paper.
The author is an artist specializing in mosaics, and the booklet is part of a series that focuses entirely on geometric patterns not only in antiquity but also in mosaics in churches and Islamic. The aim of the publication is to try to reflect the process of creating mosaic compositions and to prove that reproduction can be undertaken by anyone. It is enough to buy a checked notebook and we can try to create Roman mosaics, based on the author’s advice and originals that are found all over Europe. The author deliberately selects compositions from the easiest to the most difficult, showing step by step how the mesmerizing patterns were created in the hands of ancient artists.
It is certainly an interesting item, but we should not expect that we will get a book deeply describing Roman mosaics and all the secrets of this art. The book is educational in nature, and in my humble opinion, for many amateurs of scribbling in school notebooks, it will be an invaluable “muse” when creating subsequent compositions.
The book was published by Tarquin Group, a publishing house that offers products supporting education.
