The Mona Lisa of Gallilee - A case of plagiarism in Roman Mosaic Art ?

Since the beginning of humanity, artists have been borrowing from each other.  In a previous post, I wrote about the amazing similarities between a 2nd century BC Pasiphae Mosaic in Zeugma - Turkey and a 1st century AD fresco from the House of the Vettii in Pompeii, Italy. 

Today I'd like to share with you an example of a troubling resemblance between 2 Roman mosaics.

The stunning Mona Lisa of Galilee was unearthed from the ancient city of Sepphoris, an ancient town  grown between the 1st cent. BC and the 7th century to become a thriving administrative, commercial and religious center with a diverse, multi-ethnic and multi-religious population of some 30,000 living in relatively peaceful coexistence.

 

The Mona Lisa of Galilee

 

Her enigmatic smile can presently be admired in the antic town of Zippori on the Triclinium floor of the Roman Villa.

I stumbled on the "Mosaique au buste feminin" - Female Torso mosaic - browsing the Internet for Roman mosaic portraits, and she immediately reminded me of someone...

 

This gorgeous piece had been auctioned by a French Art Dealer for the modest price of 5,500.00 Euros.

 

 

Mosaique au buste feminin.

Although obviously the two pieces are not of the same aesthetic quality, the resemblance is stunning. This beauty cannot possibly be a copy made from memory. Either she was laid from a drawing made after the first piece, or the drawing used to lay her was a copy of the drawing used to lay the first piece.

Unfortunately, we do not know the provenance of this mosaic. My attempts at contacting the auctioneer were not successful. The catalog lists her as "ca 4th century AD", which would make both mosaics contemporary. 

Now, why would a modern mosaic artist care for this kind of things ? Well, maybe for the same reasons why Renaissance masters cared for Roman Art...

I am a modern mosaic artist with a deep admiration for ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine Arts.

You can see my own mosaics on my site at mosaicblues.  

If you are interested by my work or would like to drop me a line please contact me by email at frederic.lecut@mosaicblues.com 
or by phone at (334) 798 1639. 

You can also 

SUBSCRIBE to my

NEWSLETTER

Roman Mosaic Art - Andromeda & Perseus.

The Myth of Andromeda and Perseus has been the subject of numerous ancient and modern works of art, which typically show the moment when Perseus rescues her from the Monster Cetos.

Andromeda & Perseus - Fresco, Pompeii

When her mother Queen Cassiopeia  boasted that  Andromeda was more beautiful than the Nereids,  Poseidon sent the sea monster Cetus to ravage the coast of Ethiopia. An Oracle announced that to save his kingdom the King would have to sacrifice his daughter to the monster. And so Andromeda was chained naked to a rock on the coast.

Perseus, who was passing by on his way back from slaying Medusa came to rescue the Maiden. Sneaking upon Cetus under a cloak of invisibility, he killed him, set Andromeda free, and married her.

On this 3rd century mosaic from Gaziantep, Turkey, Perseus is still holding the head of Medusa slained earlier in the story. 

The names on the mosaics are written in Greek characters as People from that part of the empire were generally speaking Greek rather than latin. 

Mosaic borders were expertly used by Roman mosaicists to create the same effect wooden frames have on paintings. The relatively simple design of this one contrasts with the intricacies of the mythological scene and pulls our eyes and attention toward the main scene. 

Here is this pattern : 

Andromeda - Perseus Mosaic border pattern.

I am currently building a library of Roman Mosaic borders to be used in modern mosaics. 

Meander border on Carola Quinta Mosaic (Work in Progress)

Would you be interested in using some of those patterns for your own art ? Please contact me at frederic.lecut@mosaicblues.com.

I am a French mosaicist

living in Headland, Alabama, USA.

My Art is about inspiring people.

You can see some of my work 

at www.mosaicblues.com

You can contact me either by phone 

at (334) 798 1639 or by email at 

frederic.lecut@mosaicblues.com

You can also subscribe to my

MosaicBlues Newsletter

The Pasiphae Mosaic in Zeugma (Turkey)

This extraordinary mosaic covers close to 800 Square feet of the floor of a huge meeting hall of a Roman Villa from Zeugma (Turkey).

It represents the myth of Queen Pasiphaé (sitting on her throne).

The Greek version of the myth goes like that (please keep in mind that the Greeks did not really like the Minoans, and were a very patriarchical culture) : Pasiphae - Sister of the beautiful and wicked Enchanteress Circe (who once had changed Odysseus comrades into hogs) - had been given as spouse to King of Crete Minos.  

For some obscure reason - either her or Minos had pissed him off - Poseidon curse the Queen to fall in lust with a White Bull belonging to the King.

The Queen hired the King's Engineer in Chief Daedalus to assist in her endeavour to be coupled to the Bull. With the help of his son and apprentice Icarus, Daedalos built a hollow wooden cow, wrapped in a bovine skin and endowed with mechanical life. Hiding inside this contraption the Queen was able to copulate with the Bull. From their unusual union she conceived and bore the hybrid bull-headed child Asterion, also called Minotauros by the Greeks.

 

Pasiphae & the Minotaur, Apulian red-figure kylix
4th B.C., Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris

In the emblema of the mosaic pavement Pasiphae (ΦACIΦAH), an unidentified maiden and her Nanny - Trophos (TPOΦOC) watch as Daedalus (ΔΕɅɅΟC) and his son Icarus (ΕIKAPOC) with his woodworking tools are building the wooden cow. 

The same myth was represented in a fresco from the Casa dei Vettii in Pompeii. It is very interesting to note that the 5 same persons are represented, and above all, that the Queen is posing in almost the same posture and outfit in the fresco and mosaic.

300 years separate the 2 pieces... The fresco was likely realized during the 1st century AD (Pompeii was destroyed in 79 AD), and most of the Zeugma mosaics were laid during the 2nd century BC. 

Were there patterns or workbooks of mythical representations that master craftmen were passing to each other ?


The Zeugma Mosaics  can be seen at the Gaziantep Archaeology Museum in Turkey.

I am a modern mosaic artist with a deep admiration for ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine Arts. I share my passion in my newsletter, as well as the work of other more modern mosaicists working with traditional or non-traditional media. You can see my own mosaics on my site at mosaicblues  If you are interested by my work or would like to drop me a line please contact me by email at frederic.lecut@gmail.com or by phone at (334) 798 1639. 

You can also

SUBSCRIBE to my

NEWSLETTER