Roman mosaic from the 2nd century AD. Opus tessellatum. Size: 105 x 127 cm; 116 x 141 cm (frame). Roman mosaic of big dimensions, dated in the II century, representing a donkey in movement, inserted in a landscape insinuated by means of floral buds between birds and a sun in the zenith. It is a frequent type of representation on the floors of the main rooms of Roman villas. With great delicacy, silver and amber colors are combined to give a certain sensation of volume to the bodies. The art of mosaic came to Rome from Greece, and soon became a whole industry, reaching heights of quality never seen before. It became so widespread that it became the main decoration of any Roman villa or house. In Rome, mosaics were built from small pieces called tesserae (hence the name "opus tessellatum"), cubic-shaped pieces of calcareous rocks, glass or ceramic, of different sizes. These tesserae were arranged on the surface to be decorated like a jigsaw puzzle, distributing the color and shape according to the design, and fixed with cement. The importance of mosaic manufacture is demonstrated by facts such as the facilities granted by Constantine to the mosaicists in 330 when he moved the capital from Byzantium, favoring the exodus of Greek and Roman masters to the new capital, thus laying the foundations of the famous Byzantine mosaic.