What are alternatives to creating a marble floor? The tomb-full marble floor of St John's Co-Cathedral in Malta is breathtaking.

How can I create something similar to a marble floor or floor fresco, and protect it in a large room that will be continually walked through? 

I intend for the floor to have a giant figurative painting, something akin to the Procession of the Magi in the Medici Chapel.

To do the whole floor in marble would cost a phenomenal amount. Instead, what options are there? Are there any examples of other people having done this? 

The floor will be walked upon daily by many people, so raw paint would not only fade, it would smudge and ruin (especially when people are coming in from the rain). Would paint and a glass layer on top to protect it work and be an option? Because glass breaks I'm hoping there's another way.

I want to know all options that I have. If imitating marble is an option, that's great, but I want to know all feasible options. I can't see examples of where other floor murals exist that will be walked upon, so I don't know what options I have, and - to make this project a reality - I must present a range of options to the patron, in terms of feasibility and cost (including maintenance).

NOTE: I'm looking for a condensed overview of different methods, each of which I can look into hereafter individually.
As I understand it, you want to have a beautiful floor which can be walked on, without degrading its beauty.

You have 2 issues:


Creating the beautiful floor.

You can paint it, use marbles, or anything else you desire. 2D or 3D. Let your imagination go wild.
Protecting the newly made floor.

Apply a thick layer of an epoxy resin. I am not experienced with this, but I saw many videos on the Internet of people doing this. If the epoxy gets degraded, you again have options:


Polish the epoxy, if it is still thick enough.
Apply a new layer of epoxy. Ideally, you polish the old surface first for the best results, so do not wait too long before doing it.





You might be successful using a large, high quality poster for the floor, and cover it with the epoxy.



Preparing the base floor for coverage is the subject of another question, as well as details on how to use the different materials.