Using a non - invasive method of analysis , researchers have discovered that the pieces make up the famous Pompeii arial mosaic of Alexander the Great came from a internet of stone pit across Europe .

Alexander the Great is remembered today for his military conquests and empire - expanding action ( and perhaps for being the independent reference inthat2004 movie with painful accents ) . Born in 356 BCE , he was a rule of the ancient Greek land ofMacedonia , turn up in the northeastern recession of the Greek peninsula . Although he only rule for 13 years , his military mavin enable him to plant an empire that propagate the influence of Grecian culture ( Hellenism ) from his native land to Egypt and from Greece to parts of India .

He has long been recognized as a brilliant military general , but hedieddue to obscure causes at the age of 32 . Ever since , his name has gone down in story as one of the , well , great . His story has inspired various artistic representations over the century , specially among the Romans , as well asstoriesand myths that became popular in the chivalric period .

The most iconic and impressive example of the former is the Alexander Mosaic , which was created around 2,000 years ago in the Roman Catholic city of Pompeii . This artwork depicts Alexander on horseback , along with his Macedonian USA , as they defeated the Persian army led by Darius III , King of Persia , in the Battle of Issus ( 333 BCE ) .

playfulness fact : Arab sources and other texts from the knightly period , include the book of Marco Polo , recallthe Battle of Issus as the “ battle of the wry tree diagram ” or “ the lone tree diagram ” , which is regarded as a precise reference to the only landmark in the persona : a lone tree diagram .

The mosaic is made up of millions of tiny tessera – small , regular piece of hard stuff used in mosaics – that cover an area measuring 583 by 325 centimeters ( 230 by 128 inches ) .

It ’s an incredibly elaborate piece of artistry , but it was recede to story when Mount Vesuviuseruptedin 79 CE . The mosaic was then rediscover in 1831 , when archeologist discovered what they ring theHouse of the Faun , which belonged to a moneyed family . The mosaic is now housed at the National Archaeological Museum of Naples .

In 2020 , the museum launched a restoration project that included the first - ever symptomatic assessment of its pieces using non - invasive imaging and spectroscopic techniques . The team also employ portable X - beam fluorescence ( pXRF ) to place specific elements within the piece . The event were telling .

“ The so obtained data point allowed to picture the chemical and mineralogical composition of the tessera used for the manufacturing of the Mosaic , along with a doubtful theory on the provenance of the instinctive ones ” , the team writes in the field describe their findings .

They found that the tesserae were composed of ten type of colors – white , brown , blood-red , yellow , pink , green , grey , blue , black , and glassy ( vitreous ) – that were arranged to grow the image . The pieces also had a range of micro - textures that were “ masterfully combined to enhance artistic burden of the art ” .

Induced luminescence mental imagery discover that Alexander ’s face alone was made up of several shades of pink tesserae with unlike luminescence , pass on the anatomy a more naturalistic appearance .

The tesserae themselves amount from quarries that were used by the Romans at the clip . Some of the white pieces may have come from the Apuan Alps stone pit in Italy , which the Romans started to mine formarblein the 1stcentury BCE . The pink piece probably hail from sites in Portugal , while some of the yellow tessera may have do from the Roman city of Simitthus in Tunisia . In addition , the light red piece may have come from the Apuan Alps or from Sicily , and the dark flushed tessera perhaps from Cape Matapan in Greece .

Traces of wax , mineral gypsum , and calcium oxalate were also come up . These substance were belike applied to the mosaic during former restoration efforts ; atomic number 20 oxalate may have been a by - product of constituent protective finish , while the gypsum , which is widespread throughout the mosaic , probably came from protective layers tot up to the piece when it was transported to the museum in the nineteenth 100 .

Themosaicis now undergo refurbishment , and unexampled data point on the underlie mortar have been gathered by investigator . The team of this current report concludes that “ the compounding of these new data , along with information obtained from a Modern subservient probe military campaign design for the mosaic surface in the final phases of the restoration surgery , will further enrich our noesis of this sterling work of ancient artistic creation . ”

The study is published inPLoS ONE .