Browsing by Author "Vassal, Véronique"
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Item La fleur de lotus ou Nelumbo nucifera dans les mosaïques gréco- romaines(Bursa Uludağ Üniversitesi, 2021-09-07) Vassal, VéroniqueNumerous mosaics from the Hellenistic and imperial periods with Nilotic decoration have been recorded, both in the West and in the East. Almost all of them have a vegetal decoration illustrating the flora of the Nile. Among this lush vegetation, the lotus is reproduced in various forms and it is worth studying some of these representations in detail. Some examples seem to be part of an Alexandrian tradition, but particularities may evoke the world of Pharaonic Egypt. We have endeavoured to highlight how the expression of these traditions in iconography has manifested itself as well as in the treatment of the decoration. In the first instance, we thought it would be useful to go back over a few notions of botany and the characteristics of water lilies in Egypt. Different species are very similar, which leads to multiple risks of misunderstanding when using iconographic or literary sources. In the second instance, we have tried to show how Greco-Roman mosaic artists rendered the different stages of the growth of these flowers through their art. The naturalistic aspect, very present in Hellenistic mosaics, seems to have changed during the imperial period. Does the lotus retain something of the earlier floral vision, when it adorned the pavements of the Roman provinces? In the House of the Fauna in Pompeii, the mosaic of the Battle of Alexander and Darius decorated an exedra. The threshold, delimited by two Corinthian columns, was decorated with a mosaic consisting of several panels depicting scenes of life on the Nile, dating from the end of the 2nd century BC. These have been widely described and we have only focused here on the representation of lotus flowers. The illustration seems to visually describe the different stages of the flower’s life cycle. This is, in particular, the case as regards the Barberini mosaic in Préneste. The lotus sometimes appears from the front with its petals outspread. The nelumbo then consists of several corollae, the petals of which display shades of colour ranging from dark pink to light pink. This treatment is reminiscent of the fragment from the mosaic of the Canope baths, where a large nelumbo with two corollae unfolds in a circular composition.Item Iconographie et relecture d’une mosaïque gallo-romaine à décor multiple de Vienne (Narbonnaise)(Bursa Uludağ Üniversitesi, 2018-07-13) Vassal, VéroniqueA large number of isolated panels of mosaics, discovered during the nineteenth century, have been preserved, sometimes forgotten in private collections and have not been studied. In many cases, we do not know their exact provenance. In the present article, we propose to study a panel of mosaic representing a deer, whose provenance is probably Vienne (Gallia Narbonensis) and is now kept in a private collection. This panel, according to comparisons with the other mosaics found at Vienne and in the two suburbs of SainteColombe and Saint-Romain-en-Gal, seems to belong to a multiple decor pavement mentioned by Adrien Blanchet in the Inventaire des mosaïques de la Gaule in 1909. The mosaic of the deer is certainly a panel disappeared after its discovery in 1867. We propose a new interpretation of the decor placing our panel with those from the same pavement still preserved in the archaeological museum, (church Saint-Pierre de Vienne): The four seasons, a lion, a dog, Theseus abandoning Ariadne and Ariadne asleep.Item Opus Signinum, Terrazzo, mortier et béton de sol: Un etat de la question(Uludağ Üniversitesi, 2016) Vassal, VéroniqueAfter a brief presentation of the various materials used in these pavements and the description of their decorative repertoires, we discuss the question of vocabulary. Indeed, for several years, many problems of terminology divide the scientific community. The study of ancient texts and the different interpretations of the De Architectura of Vitruvius, rather than clarifying the study of this type of pavement lead to make it more confusing. A detailed commentary of the new terminology defined by Italian researchers, shows that it is not easy to standardize the descriptions. Further difficulties arise when it comes to translate a word in another language, as interpretation often generates new ambiguities. I consider mortar pavements as the most suitable general term for this pavement type, because mortar is the basic component and at the same time the most neutral term. Finally, it seems appropriate to revisit the term of terrazzo-signinum used widely, (perhaps wrongly) in the French archaeological literature.