We are extremely proud to announce that the chair of our executive committee, our very own Professor Liz James, has been awarded a €1.8 million European Research Council grant for Medieval Mosaics in Motion (MosaicsMove), a five-year project exploring what medieval wall mosaics can reveal about the art, culture and economy of the Mediterranean world.

Mosaics were among the most beautiful, costly and prestigious status symbols of the medieval Mediterranean, from the 4th to the 15th century. The project will focus on the small coloured glass cubes, known as tesserae, used to create them.

By studying the materials, artistic styles, techniques and historical records associated with surviving mosaics, the team will investigate where tesserae came from, how they travelled, and who was involved in making the mosaics.

The project will bring together archaeology, economic history, chemistry, art history, machine learning and data management. It will use this interdisciplinary approach to connect scattered evidence from mosaics across a wide chronological and geographical range, supporting expert analysis at a scale not previously possible.

Professor James said: “Mosaics are totally fascinating and this research could transform our understanding of them.”

The findings will offer new insights into production, trade networks, artistic practice, knowledge exchange, faith, patronage and consumption across the medieval Mediterranean.

Professor James will work with the Sussex Humanities Lab, alongside external collaborators in Paris and Delhi.