MART-701 Lessons

It was only a few minutes before that day’s session of Magical Art was scheduled to begin. Although the majority of students were already seated in the classroom, a small group of friends were just then leaving the Kitchens and darting up the Grand Staircase as fast as they possibly could. Right before the group was about to get on the moving staircase from the third to the fourth floor, something caught one of the student’s attention, causing them to tell their friends to wait. It was Professor Rosenquist, casually admiring a mosaic of what appeared to be the Great Lake while enjoying an ice cream sundae. Seeing that she was nowhere near the classroom and not even heading in that direction, the group decided there was no sense in rushing to class considering there’s no way the professor could beat them there. They proceeded to walk the rest of the way.

Eventually the students had made it to the fifth floor, overall pretty confident that they definitely beat the professor in getting to the classroom. That was, until they walked into the room to find Professor Rosenquist nonchalantly lounging at her desk, eating the last bit of her sundae. With a wink, she motioned the students to take their seats, sat the bowl down, and stood up to dust off her clothes.

Ah, and with these late stragglers finally here, we can begin today’s lesson. Welcome again to yet another day of Magical Art, as you can see it’s just me today, no special guest. The guest lectures are fun, but it doesn’t hurt to have some sense of normalcy. Anyway, I digress. Our topic this week is on the art of mosaics. You may have even seen some recently, as they are quite prevalent in older wizarding architecture like our very own Hogwarts castle and also in wizarding villages. This style of artwork has such rich history in both the magical and Muggle worlds that is fascinating in terms of both the culture and the evolution of its methods. So, let’s delve into it.

Much like a lot of the art forms that we talk about in this course, mosaics have a rather long-winded history. Mosaic is the art form of covering a surface in images or patterns consisting of materials (tesserae) such as small pieces of colored ceramic, glass, metal, or stones that are held together by plaster or mortar (grout). The earliest mosaics date back to around the latter half of the 3rd millennium B.C.E. and are found in a Mesopotamian temple. There are other early examples of mosaic tiles that date back to 1500 B.C.E., as well as a few examples of other civilizations honing pebble mosaics. The early workings of using mosaics for art (instead of for practical reasons) in Europe started in Greece. Sosus of Pergamon, the only Greek mosaic artist recorded in literature, was known for mosaics such as Unswept House (pictured above), a floor covered in food after a feast, and The Doves of Pliny, a mosaic of doves drinking from a bowl. Both of these were a symbol of wealth in Greek society, with the former eventually inspiring its own genre in Roman society of trompe l'oeil-style floor mosaics of leftovers. Other Greek mosaics that didn’t display the pursuits of the wealthy typically depicted mythological scenes. They are theorized to be adaptations of paintings, which was considered a much more prestigious artform, but the intricate construction of the mosaic artform eventually captured the hearts of the Romans.

Under Roman society, mosaics fully started to flourish as a popular artform. Mosaics could be found everywhere from walls and ceilings of Emperor Nero’s Domus Aurea palace, to walls of buildings in Pompeii, to even floors of Roman villas from Britain to North Africa. Greco-Roman mosaics utilized two main techniques, one that used tiny tesserae (opus vermiculatum) and one that used larger tesserae (opus tessellatum), along with the Roman mosaics having a distinct, cost-effective style of using black tesserae on a white background. Then when Christianity started to take hold in Europe, the art form blossomed even more, especially during the Byzantine Empire in the 6th to the 15th centuries. Golden mosaics adorned churches and palaces, and Ravenna, the capital of Byzantine Italy, soon became the capital of mosaic making. Magical artists started to take an interest in the subject around the time of the early Byzantine Empire. Well, let me rephrase that, magical artists had been interested in incorporating magic into mosaics for centuries, but their attempts have been relatively unsuccessful, which had deterred a lot of early magical artists from the art form. Why were early attempts unsuccessful? Think about it. Paintings, drawings, prints, and even some sculptures are a cohesive unit. Mosaics are made from multiple pieces stuck to a surface and plastered together. Not only do you have to think about enchanting these pieces that are made from different materials and their individual affinity with magic, but you also have to think of the grout. If you cast a movement spell on the tesserae, how is it going to move if it’s cemented in place? Will the spell adhere to metal pieces as effectively as it’s adhering to the stones? It’s certainly intricate work to get mosaics to produce the same effect as magical paintings.

Or that was the case until Theophano Kydones, a magical artist based in Ravenna, stepped up to the plate. Kydones knew there had to be some way to incorporate magic into mosaics, but exactly how should he go about it? After years of learning and honing the art of mosaics and experimenting with magic without any results, one day he realized that he, and others, were thinking too broad. Kydones was talking with a colleague that specialized in magical jewelry when the realization hit him that if certain materials used in jewelry had a better affinity with magic, that might be the case with mosaics as well. He started experimenting with specific materials that were theorized to have better magical affinity (as far as they knew in the 10th century, of course) and using them to replace some of his tesserae. What Kydones found was that when using these pieces throughout the mosaic after enchanting them with Deep Object Charms, the end result was that he could imbue a room or area with an effect. How large this area of effect was was determined by the amount of charmed tesserae used within the artwork. So, essentially if the intended area was a small closet, the mosaic wouldn’t need as many charmed tesserae as it would a large building. These enchanted mosaics were typically murals that would, for instance, imbue an inventor’s room to evoke inspiration when creating, or enchant an infirmary to enhance the healing properties of potions and spells. Although this wasn’t quite as exciting or complex as having moving artwork, it was a small step forward that was needed to encourage magical artists to venture back into the art of mosaics.

Mosaics faded in and out of popularity in general throughout the centuries, with it peaking again in the 12th to 13th centuries in various parts of Italy. Roman mosaic artists developed their own distinct style that involved more realism. Sicilian artists had a style that was influenced by Western European and Islamic art, as mosaics were also very popular in religious buildings in the Middle East and Western Asia. Around this time, the wizarding world also saw a rise in the popularity of using mosaics as murals to hide passageways in houses and important buildings (much like how some portraits are used) or hide compartments on items, such as cabinets or jewelry boxes to name a couple. Of course the easiest way to do this was to enchant the wall or surface to slide up or to the side like a door when the correct phrase was spoken. Though another equally good option was to cut down through the middle of the mosaic so the wall could open like double doors. However, a real breakthrough came with the invention of a thick grout-like potion called the Andamentos Plaster that enabled movement of the tesserae, rather than the surface they were placed onto. Created by Corsa Spostarsi in 1284, it’s named after the term “andamento” which refers to the artistic movement and flow of tesserae. When unactivated, it acts like a normal mundane plaster, but when activated by the enchantment on the tesserae, the consistency becomes more liquid-like to allow the tesserae to move. For example, a mosaic artist could create a still life mosaic of a large vase with grapes that could be activated by pressing in the pieces of tesserae that formed the grapes. After the correct amount of pieces were pressed, the vase would move to the side to reveal a passageway. The vase moving would be achieved by the Andamentos Plaster moving the vase tesserae up and over the still tesserae of the background, and this would typically be used in art in conjunction with normal grout. An eventual variant of Andamentos Plaster even allowed Vanishing Charms to work so that the area of the mosaic became the opening. One example of that can be found in our own Hogwarts castle. The mosaic of the Great Lake does indeed open up if you do know the password; specifically, the lake disappears while the shore and sky sections remain and you can walk through. It’s a pretty quaint hallway if I do say so myself, but I digress. The invention of Andamentos Plaster eventually did lead to animating mosaics, much like magical paintings, however, this is quite difficult if you intend on long, complex movements. Many of the mosaics successfully charmed to move were for brief, predetermined sequences, and may seem like a choppy, silent film, due to the amount of pieces moving at once.

As happens with just about everything, mosaics eventually faded out of popularity again during the Renaissance due to artists preferring frescos to murals. However, a few artists still continued creating mosaics during this time, and even preferred the medium owing to mosaics having better longevity over fresco paintings and their association with richness and bejeweled decor. One notable building that was particularly full of mosaic art during this period was the newly built St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. Several artists came together to work on the mosaics for the church, many of them being mosaic replicas of paintings by Raphael, Domenichino, and Carlo Maratta to name a few. Still, aside from these handful of magical and Muggle artists, mosaics pretty much died off until they had yet another resurgence in modern art. While there are examples of fine art mosaic murals, they have essentially evolved into a popular craft. It’s not uncommon to see mosaics in street art, on items like a bench in the park, or even in the New York City Subway! Those of you who are looking at me as if I just spoke Greek, I would suggest you have a discussion with your Muggle Studies professor on the wonders of Muggle transportation.

Anyway, this evolution of mosaics was also mirrored in the wizarding world as well. Mosaics as big as murals covering an outside wall of a shop in Hogsmeade to as small as a box to keep your quill and ink in were quite popular. Modern magical artists aren’t quite as preoccupied with animating mosaics or hiding secret doorways, but instead using magic to enhance the art. For example, a landscape mosaic could be charmed so that the sky reflects the time of day or a mosaic made to look like a flying carpet can be charmed to not only levitate, but also be made with a magical grout to give it flexibility so it could ripple in the wind like an actual carpet. One magical artist that you may be familiar with, particularly if you come from a rich wizarding family, is Ox-Art. Ox-Art is the alias of a magical designer, presumably Danish, that specifically specializes in furniture design. Their identity is shrouded in mystery and only known by a small group of family, friends, and business partners. Nevertheless, regardless of their secrecy, Ox-Art has made a name for themself in both mosaics and tile work since the 1970’s. There’s a pretty good chance that your friend’s geometric vanity with a drawer that only slides out when a certain pattern is tapped on the tesserae by their wand is an Ox-Art original. Their designs range anywhere from mosaic kitchen countertops, to coffee tables inlaid with tiles, to small decor items such as clocks or lamps. While there has been counterfeit furniture circulating, Ox-Art has been known to make his designs easy to identify by including his signature, the year it was made, and protecting it with a Copyright Charm.

With all of those centuries of history on how many different ways to make mosaics, we have narrowed the process down to essentially three main techniques that are used in the present day: the direct method, the indirect method, and the double indirect method. While the processes between magical and mundane mosaics aren’t that much different, there are a couple of tricks that magical artists use to make the process go a bit smoother. For this, I would suggest brushing up on the Sticking Charm and the Unlocking Charm as they are quite useful in mosaics as well, as we will be learning the permanent variant of the former later in this lesson. I have provided a simple graphic below of the incantations and wand movements of both spells as a light review. However, if you require more details about their concentration and willpower, I highly recommend reviewing your notes from Year One of Charms. Anyway, on to the construction methods!

 

The direct method is when the tesserae is directly placed onto the surface. A design is sketched out on the intended surface first. Muggles typically would apply an adhesive to each individual tessera and stick it onto the surface, and then have to wait for the adhesive to fully dry. In our case, we can speed up this process by using the Sticking Charm. Simply place the tesserae onto the surface and then cast the spell. Be sure to concentrate on the tesserae and the surface being joined together. Here is where you would double check that you have all the pieces in the correct spots. If you don’t, you can always make adjustments by using the Unlocking Charm to counter the Sticking Charm and adjust as needed. It is possible to release small sections by focusing only on the tesserae that you want to move, but do be aware that you can unstick more pieces than you intended. Once you are happy with the placement, cast the Permanent Sticking Charm (spell information is located below) on your mosaic. This will increase the longevity of your mosaic and prevent the likelihood of pieces moving during the grout step. I will have to warn you that this isn’t as easily undoable as the regular Sticking Charm, so be absolutely positive that you are happy with your placement. After sticking the tesserae to your surface, it’s time to use grout! The main purpose of grout is to fill in the spaces between the tesserae, which are called interstices, which gives the mosaic definition and can be an artistic use of line. This can get a bit messy because you are using your fingers to apply the grout, so I would recommend putting on gloves. Any would work but I do prefer my dragonhide gloves out of habit. Cover the entire piece, including the tesserae, with the grout and be thorough about getting it into the interstices. When you’re through and you’ve made sure all of the grout is packed in, wipe as much excess off as you can with your gloved hands and wait for 30 minutes for the grout to dry. Once dry, you can take a damp cloth or sponge to wipe off the rest of the excess grout off and then you’ll have a fully constructed mosaic!

Name: Permanent Sticking Charm
Incantation: Astrictus Stabilis (a-STRIK-toose sta-BEE-lees)
Wand Movement: The infinity symbol (∞) starting and ending in the center, encircling the objects.
Willpower: Very High; determines how permanent the objects will remain stuck and how hard they are to separate.
Concentration: Moderate; on the objects that will be stuck together.

Of course, it’s very similar to the Sticking Charm. It won’t work on living things, but regardless, be cautious when using this. As I mentioned earlier, this isn’t as easy to undo as the Sticking Charm since, if performed correctly, its effects are permanent. You might have also noticed the incredible amount of willpower this charm requires. The Sticking Charm normally uses a high amount of willpower to determine how long two objects will stick to each other, so it’s no surprise that a substantial amount of effort is required to keep the bond permanent in the Permanent Sticking Charm.

If you are ever in a situation where you can’t easily work on the final surface of your mosaic for extended periods of time (i.e. your final surface is a sidewalk with busy traffic or a bench at the train station), the indirect method would be better suited for the job. This is a bit more complicated as you have to lay the mosaic face down onto a portable, temporary, sticky surface. We can do this quite easily by simply casting the Sticking Charm onto our surface, but Muggles will typically use a backing paper with water-soluble glue. When everything is arranged how you want it, flip the mosaic onto the final surface (which should already be enchanted with the Sticking Charm) with the temporary surface facing outwards. Use the Unlocking Charm only on your temporary surface to remove it. Make sure you concentrate especially on only the temporary surface and the tesserae or you could risk unsticking the entire mosaic! Then finish the mosaic with the Permanent Sticking Charm and grout as you would in the direct method.

Finally, if you would prefer to create your mosaic in a studio but can’t really wrap your head about creating your mosaic face down, the double indirect method is your best option. This is just like the indirect method but it adds a stage so you can see your mosaic as you create it, like the direct method. The tesserae is laid face up on a surface that doesn’t have to be sticky. When you are ready to transfer, take a piece of backing paper or a board, lay it on the mosaic, and cast the Sticking Charm. Then follow the transfer process for the indirect method and finish it with the Permanent Sticking Charm and grout.

As you can see, the three main methods of mosaic construction do build off of each other. If you know what to do in the direct method, then you know how to finish off the indirect method. If you know the steps of the indirect method, just add a step in the beginning and you have the double indirect method. Simple enough! That being said, there may be times where you do have to deviate from the basic steps depending on what you want your mosaic to do magically. For example, if you want your mosaic to move or open up, your construction method cannot rely solely on the Sticking Charm. On the areas you are intending to animate, you would need to apply a layer of magical grout (or pre-grout the back of the mosaic in the indirect method), such as the Andamentos Plaster, onto the final surface before placing your tesserae. Most magical grouts and some mundane grouts can act as an adhesive, which is what that animated section of your mosaic is going to rely on. If you only use the Sticking Charms, your tesserae might not move, even if the animation charm that activates the grout is cast, because the magical grout that allows it to move would only be in the interstices, not behind the tesserae where it needs to be. That being said, if you are only animating a small section of the mosaic and are not intending for the rest of the piece to move, using the regular methods with the Sticking Charms and mundane grout on the non-moving section is absolutely fine. In that case, I would recommend using the indirect method so you can create mosaic fragment pieces to keep the different construction styles separated.

Some magical effects, such as changing the colors or performing a Deep Object Charm on the tesserae, will work fine using the three main methods step-by-step. Actually, before we run out of time today, I would like to show you one more useful charm. I’m sure that you have played around with the Color Change Charm plenty of times, or at least since you learned about it in Year Three of Charms. In fact, that particular spell along with the Flashing Color Charm and Tinting Charm are quite popular in magical art and not just with mosaics! Imagine, you just finished a mosaic that took you days to construct and you realized after looking at the final product that there was an entire section of tesserae in the wrong color. Never fear! The Permanent Color Change Charm is here! Much like the Permanent Sticking Charm, this is a permanent variant of the Color Change Charm as the regular version fades after a few days depending on the amount of willpower and concentration. This charm only works on non-living objects and in the case of backfires (i.e. changing the color of the wrong object, changing it to the wrong color, ending up with several different colors), it will need to be corrected magically as it is permanent.

Name: Permanent Color Change Charm
Incantation: Colovaria Stabilis (co-loh-VA-ree-ah sta-BEE-lees)
Wand Movement: Point at target.
Willpower: High; depending on the size of the object you’re coloring and determines the permanence of the color change.
Concentration: Low; make sure to focus on the intended color.

Also similarly to the Permanent Sticking Charm, this charm does require a bit more willpower than the regular version to give its permanent effect.

That, my dear students, is all the time we have for today! I hope you learned a lot about the wonderful world of mosaics and that you had fun adding to your ever-increasing mental list of spells. As for your assignments, you have an assignment where we get to experiment with some spellwork. Do complete them on time and be sure to study everything we have learned so far, as your midterm is awaiting the next time we meet. Toodles!

Lesson written by Professor Serafina Rosenquist
Additional portions written by Professor Rose Honeysett