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Marine mosaic (central panel of three panels from a floor)
Roman, Eastern Mediterranean
Imperial Period
A.D. 200–230
Findspot: Turkey, Hatay (formerly province of Syria), Seleucia Pieria (port city of Antioch)
Medium/Technique
Mosaic (stone and glass tesserae)
Dimensions
Overall: 291.5 x 287 cm (114 3/4 x 113 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase and conservation with funds donated by George D. and Margo Behrakis, The Getty Foundation, Jane's Trust, John F. Cogan, Jr. and Mary L. Cornille, Daphne and George Hatsopoulos, the Estate of Dr. Harold Amos, Peter and Widgie Aldrich, Mrs. I. W. Colburn, Mary B. Comstock, The Hellenic Women's Club, Inc., an anonymous donor, Katherine R. Kirk, Peter Vlachos, Mrs. James Evans Ladd, Irene and Grier Merwin, Suzanne R. Dworsky, Mr. and Mrs. Robert K. Faulkner, Francis J. Jackson and Nancy M. McMahon, Meg Holmes Robbins, Otis Norcross Fund, Helen and Alice Colburn Fund, Arthur Tracy Cabot Fund, Charles Amos Cummings Fund, and by exchange from the John Wheelock Elliot and John Morse Elliot Fund, Henry Lillie Pierce Fund, Benjamin Pierce Cheney Donation, Bequest of Benjamin Rowland, Jr., Gift of a "class of young ladies," Museum purchase by contribution, Gift of Barbara Deering Danielson, General Funds, William Sturgis Bigelow Collection, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. G. W. Wales, Gift of Paul E. Manheim, Bequest of Mrs. May Sheppard Jordan, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. William de Forest Thomson, Francis Bartlett Donation, Gift of James Howe Proctor, Gift of Benjamin W. Crowninshield, Gift of the Estate of Dana Estes, Gift of Thomas Gold Appleton, Gift of Edward Perry Warren, Gift of an anonymous donor, Gift of Francis Amory, Gift of J. J. Dixwell, Gift of Edward Austin, Gift of Edward Robinson, Gift of Horace L. Mayer, Everett Fund, Gift of the Misses Norton, Gift of the Misses Amy and Clara Curtis, Gift of Charles C. Perkins, Gift of Mrs. Walter Scott Fitz, Gift of Harold Murdock in memory of his brother, Rear-Admiral J. B. Murdock, Gift of the Estate of Alfred Greenough, and Gift of Edward Southworth Hawes
Accession Number2002.128.1
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope, Ancient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsMosaics
Mosaics covered the floors of houses belonging to the well-to-do throughout the ancient Mediterranean, especially in Roman times, and thousands of these pavements survive. Many inventive compositions, both figural and ornamental, were developed to complement the functions and layouts of the rooms they occupied. This mosaic is a three-part composition that once decorated a courtyard in a third-century residence, the so-called House of the Drinking Contest, near the port of Antioch-on-the-Orontes. Antioch was a great metropolis whose inhabitants, belonging to the Hellenized culture of Syria, enjoyed a privileged lifestyle similar to those of their wealthy counterparts throughout the Roman Empire.
The house, sited near the coast, offered views of the sea and cool breezes for outdoor dining during the summer heat. Diners normally reclined on couches during meals, and this pavement was designed to accommodate them. The couches would have been placed on sections of the mosaic decorated with a simple lozenge design at both sides of the central scene. From this vantage, diners gazed down upon the three chubby erotes riding dolphins, which faced out in three directions. The nude winged boys cast their fishing lines into a sea filled with twenty-five colorful marine creatures, many of them identifiable as specific Mediterranean species-a long, thin garfish; brightly colored wrasses; gray and red mullets; a shrimp; and a clam. Seafood was a luxury item, and the vivid representation of these delectable marine creatures must have been appetizing and promising for the guests.
The house, sited near the coast, offered views of the sea and cool breezes for outdoor dining during the summer heat. Diners normally reclined on couches during meals, and this pavement was designed to accommodate them. The couches would have been placed on sections of the mosaic decorated with a simple lozenge design at both sides of the central scene. From this vantage, diners gazed down upon the three chubby erotes riding dolphins, which faced out in three directions. The nude winged boys cast their fishing lines into a sea filled with twenty-five colorful marine creatures, many of them identifiable as specific Mediterranean species-a long, thin garfish; brightly colored wrasses; gray and red mullets; a shrimp; and a clam. Seafood was a luxury item, and the vivid representation of these delectable marine creatures must have been appetizing and promising for the guests.
Catalogue Raisonné
Highlights: Classical Art (MFA), p. 134-135.
DescriptionA floor mosaic of three panels. The central panel features three erotes riding on dolphins and fishing in the sea. Twenty-five recognizable varieties of fish (red and gray mullet, abalone or garfish, colorful wrasse, mackerel, bream, flounder, and many more) as well as a pink shrimp and a clam are depicted in the mosaic against a white ground.
These 3 panels comprised the mosaic pavement of an open courtyard reception space from the "House of the Drinking Contest" in Roman Antioch (modern Antakya). The Erotes face in three directions of the courtyard in which the three part mosaic ensemble was found. Panel B: Central Figural scene; Labeling panels A,B,C follows the orientation of the mosaic in situ from east to west; primary entrance into room is on the east side.
Border of red meander and black and yellow crowstep. Glass tesserae (oranges, yellows, reds, yellow-green, dark blue, bright blues, greens).
These 3 panels comprised the mosaic pavement of an open courtyard reception space from the "House of the Drinking Contest" in Roman Antioch (modern Antakya). The Erotes face in three directions of the courtyard in which the three part mosaic ensemble was found. Panel B: Central Figural scene; Labeling panels A,B,C follows the orientation of the mosaic in situ from east to west; primary entrance into room is on the east side.
Border of red meander and black and yellow crowstep. Glass tesserae (oranges, yellows, reds, yellow-green, dark blue, bright blues, greens).
Provenance1937/1939, excavated at the House of the Drinking Contest, Seleucia Pieria (port city of Antioch), near modern-day Samandag, Turkey, by the Committee for the Excavation of Antioch; 1940, sent to Dumbarton Oaks (Byzantine Collection, D.O. 40.65a-c), Washington, DC; 2002, sold by Dumbarton Oaks to the MFA. (Accession Date: June 26, 2002)