Mediterranean Geometric Patterns

This paper analyzes some geometric patterns used in decorations made in the Mediterranean area during a period from the third century BC to the twelfth century AD. After defining a line of continuity between the culture of the Roman mosaic and decorations typical of Islamic art, have been studied the processes of graphic construction of geometric patterns made by Jules Bourgoin and collected in the famous corpus of plates published in 1879. Finally, it was highlighted that in Southern Italy the Roman legacy has persisted, through Islam and the Byzantine Empire, until the late Middle Ages; this occurred particularly in Calabria and Sicily, regions that are historically the place of syncretism and contamination between the dominant cultures that have alternated over the years