Dome

Detail, decorative border with eight-petaled flower in the corner; The summit of the hill of Pergamon forms the acropolis proper. It was also the site of the Attalids’ "palace", a surprisingly modest structure comprising nothing more than normal, comfortably built houses. Fragments of mosaic floors survive and are among the earliest extant mosaics made with cut tesserae, rather than natural pebbles, and with polished surfaces (Berlin, Pergamonmuseum). The fragments are composed of large numbers of small tesserae, including some of glass, in a wide variety of colours, enabling the artist, in effect, to paint in stone. Although the most famous ancient mosaicist, Sosos, worked at Pergamon, none of his work is known, and the fragments in the palace are signed by Hephaistion. The Parrot mosaic is a modern reconstruction of various fragments from different mosaics, installed in the Telephos Hall of the museum. Not all original fragments are incorporated in their original place in the partial reconstruction. The parrot itself is a completed copy, made in 1955, of the original that survives only in fragments. The floors came from the Palace V stage, dated ca. 160-150 BCE. Source: Grove Art Online; http://www.oxfordartonline.com/ (accessed 7/25/2012)