Roman, the Levant, late Imperial Period, ca. 3rd to 5th century CE. A gorgeous, lively mosaic showing two birds, with a partial text reading "XIAL" or possibly "XIAC" in the upper center. Using slate-green and light and dark grey tesserae, the artist has depicted a goose- or swan-like bird and a dove- or pigeon-like bird. The waterfowl is depicted seated, as if nesting or floating, while the dove stands, feet and beak clearly depicted in pale salmon pink/orange, its head turned back as if to regard the other bird. They are depicted against a glossy white background. Size: 19.15" W x 14.35" H (48.6 cm x 36.4 cm)

Birds - and indeed, animals of all kinds - were incredibly popular artistic themes in the Roman Empire. Romans delighted in seeing animals, and a major industry during the imperial period was the capture and transport of birds, mammals, and lizards for display and sport in the Roman arena. Their mosaic artwork reflects this interest. For example, at Pompeii, there are multiple mosaics depicting well-rendered, lifelike birds engaging in a variety of activities - sitting in trees, warily watching cats, and in the case of one partridge, plucking at a necklace as if to steal it. Based on where mosaics depicting them have been found, birds seem to have been considered tranquil, peaceful subjects for the interiors of homes (not so the case with many other types of animals).

Mosaics (opus tesellatum) are some of our enduring images from the Roman world, not only for their aesthetic beauty, but also because they reveal what Romans chose to depict and see every day decorating their private and public spaces. In the Roman province of Syria, which encompassed most of the ancient Near East/Levant, mosaics seem to have developed as a common art form relatively late, with most finds coming from the 3rd century CE or later. Syria was one of Rome's wealthiest provinces, but it was also far removed from Rome itself and Roman culture was overlaid on enduring cultural traditions from Hellenistic Greece and the great civilizations that came before it. Antioch-on-the-Orontes (modern day Antakya, Turkey), was the capital of northern Roman Syria, and its excavations in the 1930s revealed more than three hundred mosaic pavements.

Provenance: private Carlton collection, Los Angeles, California, USA

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#122078

Mosaic section is mounted on the original concrete and has been cut from a larger mosaic; as a result text is incomplete. Tesserae have been lacquered to stabilize. Small losses to tesserae, mostly around the edges.