De Ferranti Glossary: "Opus reticulatum"

Glossary: O

Opus reticulatum
Opus reticulatum (also known as reticulated work) is a form of brickwork that uses diamond-shaped bricks of tufa that are placed around a core of opus caementicium. The diamond-shaped tufa blocks are placed with the pointed ends into the cement core at roughly 1/4, so the square bases form a diagonal pattern, and the pattern of mortar lines resembles a net. Reticulatum is the Latin term for net, and opus, the term for a work of art, thus the term literally translates to "net work."

This construction technique was used from the beginning of the first century BCE was very common until opus latericium, a different form of brickwork, became more common.

Opus reticulatum was used by Alberti in the Rucellai Palace.