Mosaics as Theology

Byzantine mosaics took the gold background to its extreme. The interior of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople (537 CE) and the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna (547 CE) are covered in millions of tiny glass tiles called tesserae, many backed with gold leaf.

Mosaicists set these gold tiles at slightly different angles on purpose. As worshippers moved or candlelight flickered, the surface caught the light unevenly and seemed to shimmer and breathe. The sacred figures never looked fully still — they appeared alive, suspended in a field of restless gold.