You are currently browsing the daily archive for January 27th, 2007.
Mosiac wall art, originally uploaded by glowingon.
Dumbarton Oaks Manor House on Flickr - john w
Dumbarton Oaks is a 19th century Federal-style mansion in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It currently houses the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, a center for scholarship in Byzantine studies, Pre-Columbian studies and the history of landscape architecture. Dumbarton Oaks - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dumberton Pool on Flickr - by elvisthefish
mosaic of the great horned god overlooks the pool - by Karon
poolhouse mosaics on Flickr - by Karon
Poolhouse mosaic deetail on Flickr - by van swearingen
Poolhouse mosaic. detail on Flickr - by van swearingen
Poolhouse mosaic at Dumbarton Oaks on Flickr - by van swearingen
Bathhouse Mosaic smalti & marble detail on Flickr - by elvisthefish
Bathhouse mosaic macro smalti detail on Flickr - elvisthefish
Basílica de Carranque 2, originally uploaded by stavlokratz.
Where is Carranque?
Carranque is a town in the Toledo province, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It is located in the Alta Sagra area of the province bordering the province of Madrid.
Carranque contains a Roman site protected as an archeological park by the Castile-La Mancha government. It is located by river Guadarrama, near a Roman road. It seems to be near the lost city of Titultiam. There are three main buildings, the ruins of a Roman mill and a modern interpretation building. The buildings date from the late 4th century and are thought to be related to the Hispania-born emperor Theodosius I.
carranque mosaico on Flickr - by themy2004
In 1983 a local peasant, Samuel López Iglesias, found a series of mosaics while plowing in the fields known as las Suertes de Abajo. These mosaics belong to the so-named Villa of Maternus. The interpretation facility exhibits objects found during the excavations. Carranque - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Océano on Flickr - by stavlokratz
In the Dining Hall a tilted floor formed a semicircular fountain with a mosaic of the god Oceanus, featuring crab antennas, claws and a wavy beard.
In the Greek and Roman world-view, Oceanus (Greek Ὠκεανός, Okeanos), was the world-ocean, which they believed to be an enormous river encircling the world. Strictly speaking, Okeanos was the ocean-stream at the Equator in which floated the habitable hemisphere (oikoumene).[1] In Greek mythology, this world-ocean was personified as a Titan, a son of Uranus and Gaia. In Hellenistic and Roman mosaics, this Titan was often depicted as having the upper body of a muscular man with a long beard and horns, and the lower torso of a serpent (cf. Typhon). On a fragmentary archaic vessel (British Museum 1971.11-1.1) of ca 580 BCE, among the gods arriving at the wedding of Peleus and the sea-nymph Thetis, is a fish-tailed Oceanus, with a fish in one hand and a serpent in the other, gifts of bounty and prophecy. In Roman mosaics he might carry a steering-oar and cradle a ship. Oceanus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Briseis and Achilles mosaic- Wikipedia
The Ulysses giving Briseis back to Achilles mosaic above was also found in the dining room & depicts the return of the slave Briseis to Achilles as narrated in the Iliad.
What Iliad?
The Iliad (Ancient Greek Ἰλιάς, Ilias) is, together with the Odyssey, one of two ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer, a supposedly blind Ionian poet. The epics are considered by most modern scholars to be the oldest literature in the Greek language (though some believe that the works of the poet Hesiod were composed earlier, a belief that was also held by some classical Greeks).
Aquiles from Ulysses giving Briseis back to Achilles on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
The first word of the Iliad is μῆνιν (mēnin), “rage” or “wrath”. This word announces the major theme of the Iliad: the wrath of Achilles.
Briseida from Ulysses giving Briseis back to Achilles on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
When Agamemnon, the commander of the Greek forces at Troy, dishonors Achilles by taking Briseis, a slave woman given to Achilles as a prize of war, Achilles becomes enraged, and withdraws from the fighting. Without Achilles’ prowess in battle, the Greeks are nearly defeated by the Trojans. Achilles re-enters the fighting when his dearest friend Patroclus is killed by the Trojan prince Hector. Achilles slaughters many Trojans, and kills Hector. In his rage he then refuses to return Hector’s body and instead defiles it. Priam, the father of Hector, ransoms his son’s body, and the Iliad ends with the funeral of Hector.
Of the many themes in the Iliad, perhaps the most important is the idea of moral choice. Achilles believes he has two options: he can either live a long, unremarkable life at home or else he can die young and gloriously as a mercenary warrior. Military adventuring (that is, pillage and plunder) was a way of life in pre-Homeric times, and the many ruins of thick-walled cities and fortresses in the region give silent testimony to the fear that must have characterized life in the ancient world.
For some men, military adventuring is a more attractive choice than staying home on the farm. Death in battle leads to honor and glory—timae and kleos—which were important values of the day — more important than even right and wrong. One of the remarkable things about the Iliad is the way that Achilles, especially in Book 9, both embraces concepts of honor and glory and also rejects them. It should be noted that, despite the fact that he is the antagonist in the story, Hector probably best displays the qualities of an ancient Mediterranean hero. Many Greek myths exist in multiple versions, so Homer had some freedom to choose among them to suit his story. Iliad - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
mosaico on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
mosaico on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Píramo y Tisbe at Villa of Maternus - Carranque, Spain on Flickr - by stavlokratz
This mosaic is found in the sleeping room of the 4th century Roman Villa of Maternus - Carranque, Spain
Mosaic Art Source Archives - more mosaics from the Villa Maternus - Carranque, Spain
The love story of Pyramus and Thisbe, not really apart of Roman mythology, is actually a sentimental romance. It is recounted by Hyginus (Fabulae 242) but is better told by Ovid(Metamorphoses 4). Pyramus and Thisbe - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Thisbe and Pyramus with Typo paphos, cyprus on Flickr - by Ken and Nyetta
This mosaic at Paphos, Cyprus is particularly interesting because it depicts a rare (and enormous) “typo.” This is supposed to be a mosaic of the story of Thisbe and Pyramos — the story written down by Ovid from which Shakespeare adapted Romeo and Juliet and the story that appears as a sub-plot in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
In the legend, Thisbe and Pyramos are youths in Babylon whose parents dislike each other but who fall in love by talking through a crack in the wall between their homes. This mosaic is supposed to depict their fateful meeting that results in their double-suicide.
The problem with this mosaic is that rather than showing the Pyramos who committed suicide when he thought Thisbe had been eaten by a great cat (a leopard in this mosaic), the artist put in the river god Pyramos with his seaweed hair and horn of plenty. The mosaic artist probably did not know the story and was just working from a book of standard themes — and chose the wrong Pyramos to draw!
For a bit of fun check this out - Pyramus and Thisbe performed by The Beatles
Worchester College Oxford - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Worcester College
Worcester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Its predecessor was an institution of learning since the late thirteenth century, even though the current college was founded only in the eighteenth century.
Worcester College, Oxford - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Saints from the mosaic floor of Worcester College’s chapel c.1791
St Augustine on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
St Augustine (or Austin) is here shown writing one of his famous texts, possibly the ‘Confessions’.
St Jerome on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
St Jerome translated the Bible in Latin. His work is called the Vulgate. He is shown here in cardinal’s robes and in the work of translation, or perhaps writing one of his Scripture commentaries.
St Ambrose on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
St. Ambrose was believed to have composed the ‘Te Deum laudamus’, an earlyChristian hymn of praise, hence he is shown here in the act of writingit.
St Gregory the Great on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
St. Gregory - This Pope was responsible for the codification of plainsong, hence the name ‘Gregorian chant’. The Holy Spirit in the form of a dove sits on his shoulder, dictating the sacred song to him.
Christ the Divine Sower, originally uploaded by Lawrence OP.
Mosaic floor from Worcester College’s chapel. This comes from the footpace in front of the Altar. The floor is entirely covered in mosaic with charming depictions of the saints.
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