2017 Sayı 10

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/11452/10038

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Book review: A mosaic menagerie: Creatures of land, sea and sky in Romano-British Mosaics
(Uludağ Üniversitesi, 2017) Ling, Roger
One of the more attractive features of mosaic pavements in Roman Britain - as indeed in other parts of the Roman Empire - is the profusion of animals that inhabit the various fields. In her excellent new monograph, Patricia Witts reviews and analyses all known specimens of this “mosaic menagerie”. Her agenda is made clear from the start. “Seemingly overlooked as a subject of serious study, these appealing creatures were more than mere decoration or a convenient way of filling space. They are usually chosen with care and offer insights into the overall iconography of the pavements in which they appear.” I would argue for a more flexible position: sometimes the fauna were highly meaningful (as in pavements showing beasts parading around Orpheus), sometimes they were more generally relevant (as in the marine fauna of mosaics in bath-suites), sometimes they were stock fillers chosen from a decorative repertoire. But this is a matter of opinion, and Witts presents her case persuasively and with exemplary thoroughness.
The mosaics of the Roman Villa of São Simão, Penela, Portugal
(Uludağ Üniversitesi, 2017) Vicente, Sónia; Mendes, Ana Luísa
The Roman Villa of São Simão, part of the ancient municipium of Conímbriga, in the province of Lusitania, is located in the area correspondent to the churchyard, public road and lands adjacent to the Chapel of Our Lady of Grace, in São Simão, within the fertile valley of the Dueça River, in the municipality of Penela, district of Coimbra. The mosaic pavements uncovered in 2001 together with the newly discovered mosaics identified in 2015 and the remaining set of in stucco wall coverings reveal an impressive occupation whose study reinforces and brings new information about the Roman rural rule of this territory. A preliminary study of the mosaic pavements is presented taking into consideration the decorative motifs depicted, the state of conservation and the interventions made in situ during the archaeological excavation.
Geometric mosaics of Baetica
(Uludağ Üniversitesi, 2017) Vazquez, Sebastián Vargas
With the present research we present a preview of an ambitious investigative project currently being carried out that pursues the study and analysis of all the geometric mosaics of Roman Baetica, most especially their composition and/or geometric design. Additionally, we offer a general view of the investigative course of action, the method, and the technique among other things, and an overview of the obtained results up to this point. The sheer quantity of floor mosaics obtained from within the territorial borders of ancient roman Baetica and the complexity of this assignment due to the utilized methodology make it so that our research advances rather slowly. Even so, we currently have more than half of the mosaics of Baetica catalogued and analyzed. The study´s progress and a rather large portion of the catalogue of geometric designs have been recently published and are available at: Vargas Vázquez 2014, íd. 2016. Throughout this research we hope to demonstrate the importance of the mosaic in the roman province of Baetica as a highly prized and demanded element, in both urban and rural environments. We seek to highlight the geometry of the mosaic expressed in its various and interesting forms, designs and/or compositions that are both simple and complex, and in many cases fruit of a marketed and evident creativity, singularity, and originality.
A Roman mosaic unearthed in Armazéns Sommer (Lisbon). Archaeology and iconography
(Uludağ Üniversitesi, 2017) Riberiro, Ricardo Ávila; Vieira, Vasco Noronha; Rebelo, Paulo; Neto, Nuno
Aiming the construction of a new hotel (Hotel Cais de Santarém) using the previous basement of the large storage known as Sommer, located in Rua Cais de Santarém, nºs 40 up to 64, and limited by Rua de São João da Praça northwards and by Travessa de São João da Praça eastwards, in the city of Lisbon, a large amount of archaeological contexts were uncovered that uniquely illustrate the stratification of the city of Lisbon between the Iron Age and the first half of the 20th century. Concerning Roman urban contexts was found a domus with rooms well preserved with painted walls plaster and a pavement covered with mosaic. In this paper the authors will present the monument and further discussions will take place on excavation levels, iconographic and architectural features.
Mosaics of the Hispanic Meseta Norte: Phases, officinae, artistic taste
(Uludağ Üniversitesi, 2017) Regueras, Fernando; San Jose, Caridad
About 400 mosaics are known in the Meseta Norte (today, Comunidad Autónoma of Castilla y León), with chronological variants, most of them of the 4th and 5th centuries; with stylistic variants, geometrical topics in preference to figurative themes; with topographical variants, predominantly rural findings against urban findings; and with technical variants, exceptionally sectilia, only one case of signinum and the rest, tessellati. We know nothing about the mosaic workers, just the signature of one who worked in the Baths of La Olmeda (Palencia): Sil [o]. However, stylistic, morphological, or material concordances allow us to suspect the existence of workshops, which usually operated in regional areas. Surely the former ones were Italic workshops serving people of that origin (opus sectile and opus signinum, Asturica Augusta). Almost two centuries after another officina is documented, known as Clunia-Uxama-Asturica, because it worked in these three cities, and their consequences are still tracked in the late third century in certain domus of the above-mentioned cities. The great mutation of Roman mosaic in the Mesetas occurred in the fourth century with the spectacular display of villas, unparalleled in Hispania. Serving these new customers a large number of workshops was developed, for instance, the designated one as the NO peninsular workshop, which worked in the provinces of León and Zamora; the so-called one as Prado-Almenara workshop, because of its presence in these villas from Valladolid, and also in La Valmuza (Salamanca) where another workshop took part closely linked to some villas from La Mancha. Finally, the Cuevas-Valdanzo workshop, whose taste for the aniconism links these villas of Soria with other more western ones.
The mosaics of Roman House in Antandros
(Uludağ Üniversitesi, 2017) Polat, Yasemin; Çokoğullu, Seçil
In this study, it is presented that the mosaic pavements of the Roman House from Antandros. Portico and the three rooms opening to portico is uncovered. However just portico and the biggest room has mosaic pavements. The pavements are decorated with geometric motifs which are commonly used. Portico is decorated with the mosaic floor is composed of six panels with geometrical design surrounded by this guilloche frame. Whereas the geometric motifs are only on the main panel of the biggest room mosaic which is thought that it must have been used as triclinium, the bordur is designed by floral and figurative motifs. This geometric design of main panel of triclinium is similar to the villa (called Yamaç Ev) which was found in Antandros. Especially, the coins were found, on the basement of triclinium, portico and room 2, are of importance on dating the house and its findings. These coins are dated to Valerius Licinianus Licinus (317-320 AD) and Flavious Honorius (395-401 AD). Therefore this Roman house and the mosaics can be dated to the 4th century AD.
The Roman Mosaics of the Roman Villa in the Monumental Complex of Santiago da Guarda, Municipality of Ansião (Portugal)
(Uludağ Üniversitesi, 2017) Pereira, Rodrigo Marques
Classified as a National Monument in 1978, the Palace of Vasconcelos or manor house of the Counts of Castelo Melhor, important museum centre of Ansião Municipality, is a reference property of the noble houses of the sixteenth century, formed by a fifteenth-century tower and sixteenth-century palace. The monument is located in Santiago da Guarda parish seat of Ansião municipality, in the district of Leiria, and is currently known as the Monumental Complex of Santiago da Guarda. The need to recover the set was preceded by an archaeological investigation that confirmed the existence of the ruins of a Late Roman villa in the basement, which stand out roman mosaics which are integrated in the respective rehabilitation project.
East versus West in the iconography of Roman Mosaics: Selected examples of shared themes
(Uludağ Üniversitesi, 2017) Parrish, David
This article deals with a few different artistic themes represented by mosaicists in both the eastern and western halves of the Roman empire. The themes I discuss are the Triumph of Dionysos and the subject of the hunt, both of which were popular primarily for decorating the main reception room of private homes. Dionysos’s triumph evokes worldly happiness and prosperity, and the hunt, of either realistic or mythological type, reflects a popular aristocratic pastime as well as the manly quality of courage in the face of danger, or virtus. In general, the direction of artistic influence flowed from west to east, but in at least one instance, the trend in imagery moved in the opposite direction. It is shown how eastern and western craftsmen developed regional preferences in the ways they depicted the shared themes, partly shaped by local historical and economic circumstances.
Du concept de Praeparatio Euangelica à la christianisation de l’art, notamment dans le choix des sujets iconographiques de la mosaïque romaine
(Uludağ Üniversitesi, 2017) Maciel, M. Justino Pinheiro
As the Latin phrase in the above title says, the passage from paganism to Christianity does not arise ex machina, but it is also prepared through the continuous experience of religiosity in pagan contexts. There is a preparation that is said to be evangelical, because little by little and in many ways, the Christian Good News reaches the whole Roman Empire. This is visible in the evolution of classical art, especially in the mosaic, with the best examples, among other significant myths, of Orpheus’s story. Hence the importance of new approaches to classical myths, namely in their representation in opus musivum.
The geometric themes in the mosaics of the religious complex of Mértola (Portugal)
(Uludağ Üniversitesi, 2017) Lopes, Virgílio António Martins
The Settlement of Mértola dates from at least the end of the second or early first millennium BC. In the so-called Iron Age, possibly in the third century BC, a walled enclosure with a total length of about 4 kilometres was constructed. This is equivalent to a fortified area of 173 acres. During the period of Roman domination, the city of Mirtylis minted coins and was an important trading port with an important set of structures, such as the forum or the castellum, some private residences and production sites within its walls. In the late forth century AD, when Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire, important civil structures were built in Mértola, such as the tower near the river, and religious facilities such as funeral basilicas and a mausoleum. The sacred area developed on the platform of the old forum where, together with two imposing baptisteries, the mosaic fragments were found. Despite the scarcity of dating elements for the mosaics in Mértola, it would appear that they belong to the sixth century, a historical period in which the members of the community were buried with their epitaphs written in Greek, possibly because of the influence of tastes and fashions from the Byzantine East. During this and the next century, two important basilicas and a mausoleum were built in the suburbs of the city. On the forum, a set of religious buildings would therefore mark the Christian topography of Mértola.
The mosaics of the Church of Santa Maria Do Freixo (Marco De Canaveses): Reflections on its meaning in the context of the Late Musivaria of the Douro Valley
(Uludağ Üniversitesi, 2017) Lima, António Manuel de Carvalho
In this paper, we present the polychromatic roman mosaics with a geometric organization and a vegetalist decoration discovered during the archaeological excavation that took place in 2001 in Santa Maria do Freixo church (Northern Portugal). After describing the ruins and the mosaics, a brief contextualization (including the formal analysis of the building and of the mosaics and its local and regional geographic context) is given in order to try to understand its social and cultural meanings.
West meets East: Roman mosaics of Ionia
(Uludağ Üniversitesi, 2017) Jobst, Werner
Tradition and innovation were for centuries characteristic elements of the cultural development of Ionia, that landscape of western Anatolia, whose intellectual achievements became groundbreaking for the European continent and beyond. Whereas there are dominant the contacts with Egypt, Mesopotamia and Persia in Greek times, with the taking over of the Pergamenian Kingdom by Rome and with the establishment of the proconsular province of Asia (129-126 v. Chr.) new trends were initiated from Italy which are reflected in workmanship and art. Taking charge of pavement-types in the facilities of public and private buildings is one of the phenomena that document the cultural exchange between West and East. New results of archaeological and historical research in recent decades in the urban centers of Ionia provide insight into the sociological related interlacing of Hellenistic and Italo-Roman shapes of technological and decorative design on floor coverings. In this paper will be discussed in the light of selected examples discovered in different ancient centers of western Anatolia the way of Greek pebble- and tessellated-mosaic to the Italo-Roman floor spaces.
Mosaic programmes in domestic contexts at Zeugma
(Uludağ Üniversitesi, 2017) Görkay, Kutalmış
This article reassesses mosaic programmes in domestic contexts and in private spheres in the houses at Zeugma and in some other Greco-Roman cities. The starting point of the argument in the article is a mosaic inscription which was found in a Roman house in Zeugma. The mosaic pavement itself decorates the floor of a chamber decorated with geometric patterns and the inscription in the middle. The inscription is an epithalamium, a wedding song, written for a newly-wedded couple, probably residents of the house, whose names are also partly preserved in the poem. The inscription suggests that the theme and iconography of the mosaics and frescoes in public dining rooms and private rooms in the domestic context are associated with the stories of the gods, goddesses or other well-known couples related to the concept of ideal marriage in mythology and in literature. These marriage-related themes are accompanied by images of Dionysiac domesticity and Bacchic frenzy. This article proposes that many of these mosaics, which are much more permanent than the rest of the decoration, may have been commissioned as part of marriage preparations, perhaps as gifts to the wedded couple. The subjects are chosen according to the intellectual background of the house-dwellers and their milieu, from literary and mythological narratives that are meant to protect the new family’s happiness and union, serve as a reminder of marriage and symbolize the perpetuity of the family’s progeny and its prosperity.
Reflets de l’Orient sur les Monuments epigraphiques de la Lusitanie Romaine occidentale
(Uludağ Üniversitesi, 2017) d’Encarnacao, José
In the Roman epigraphic monuments of the Occidental Lusitania we can see the oriental influence in the adoption of Greek names by the people there mentioned, but this is a cultural influence not the sign of the existence of oriental people in the province. Nevertheless the most relevant relation with the oriental culture is patented at the domain of the religion, especially in the cult of Cybele, as Mother of the Gods. But we can also see the oriental influences in the mosaics.
Geometric themes in Villae of the Conventus Pacensis
(Uludağ Üniversitesi, 2017) Kremer, Maria de Jesus Duran
The project of drawing up an inventory of Roman mosaics in the territory of present-day Portugal requires, in the first stage, a methodical consultation of as many existing sources of information as possible, both of the current and of the past centuries. In doing so, trends in the compositional grammar and in the iconographic discourse chosen will gradually be outlined, eventually allowing the individualization of local, regional or even itinerant workshops. In the process of consulting the records of Roman mosaics in Portuguese territory of Lusitania we can identify the existence of geometric mosaics in Roman villae of Alentejo, less known but not less interesting as regards the repertoire of their floors. From some of them - disappeared in the years following their discovery – there is nothing left but the reports of the archaeological campaigns then carried out and one or another photograph or drawing included in them. Largely in very poor state of conservation, the still existing fragments are, today, testimony of a very own decorative syntax.
The mosaics of Conimbriga (prov. Lusitania, Portugal). New observations on the activity of their workshops and on their decorative programs
(Uludağ Üniversitesi, 2017) Correia, Virgílio Hipólito
With over 100 years of study and dissemination, the mosaics from Conimbriga are an outstanding group of this Roman decorative art in the extreme West of the Empire. Recent research on the domestic architecture of the town as allowed for those studies to be put in a general perspective and some conclusions drawn on the activity of the local workshops over the span of five centuries (1st BC - IVth AD). These conclusions respect both to technical and artistic matters, such as the volume of the activity, the public or private nature of the decorated buildings and the style of those mosaics, and to ideological issues, such as the figurative motifs preferred in the decorative programs, where everyday life, heroic cycles and broad mythological themes have an important presence.
Urbs in rure: Decorative programmes and architectural models in Lusitania’s Villae
(Uludağ Üniversitesi, 2017) Carneiro, Andre
One of the most remarkable characteristics in Lusitania’s villae is their diversity: Each place embodies a set of contents and symbols, which were carefully defined by their owners. By analysing all the different architectural and iconographic variants, we are trying to understand who these domini were and how the elites conveyed all contents belonging to the bigger picture of the Mediterranean Oikoumene. Landscape, building spaces and plants, the relation between inner and outer environments, iconographic contents, and decorative grammar are analysed in order to be able to understand the way in which the cultural values found in Lusitania’s villae were transmitted.
Rome: Economic change in the 2nd century BC - The context of mosaic as a luxury product
(Uludağ Üniversitesi, 2017) Carmo, Filipe
To understand the Roman economy in the 2nd century BC is something that is not possible without being aware of the process of how the Mediterranean World fused into a political whole, first under the influence and later under the rule of the Roman State. Constructing the economic history of this period is not possible without considering the globalisation that occurred in the Mediterranean political realm, as well as the major changes in the social and economic spheres taking place in the Italian Peninsula. This context makes it possible to lay down a relationship between the conquering process and the changes that came about in the field of the land property and land cultivation. A second relationship may be established between the deep changes that occurred in the distribution of urban and rural populations and the consumption structure, the origin of corn supplies and the changes in the economic tissue in general. Further consideration is given to the economic significance of the proceeds coming from the war along with the revenues that Roman ruling officials and economic agents obtained while administering the imperial domain. The appetite for luxury goods that resulted from this process led in particular to the building of wealthy houses where fine mosaic pavements tended to be a common feature.
Geometric mosaics from the courtyard of the Great Bath at Antiochia ad Cragum in western Rough Cilica
(Uludağ Üniversitesi, 2017) Can, Birol
The original floors of the courtyard and room with apse (frigidarium?), recently uncovered at the Great Bath Complex in Antiochia ad Cragum, one of the better preserved structures of the ancient city located along the Mediterranean coast of western Rough Cilicia, are covered with mosaics. Only a few fragments of the room with apse mosaic have been preserved, but the courtyard mosaic has remained largely intact. These mosaics, consisting of panels and borders, contain a wide variety of geometric motifs. The geometrical patterns seen here have been encountered in Roman mosaics throughout the entire Mediterranean basin from the Middle East to the Iberian Peninsula. However, in terms of motif and technique, the closest similar examples of this third century AD mosaic of the courtyard can be found in Anatolia, including in particular the region of Cilicia.
Figurative elements in mosaics and Roman painting at Algarve (Portugal)
(Uludağ Üniversitesi, 2017) Bernardes, Joao Pedro
The figurative mosaics with marine fauna at Algarve region, in the south of Portugal, are various and well known, particularly from Roman villa of Milreu. But connected to the sea there are also human representations in the mosaics of the region which, such as the marine themes, are characterized by a strong stylistic link to the Roman art of the North Africa. Recently both figurative themes, animal or human, also arise in parietal painting of the Algarve, specifically in a maritime villa specialized in fish-salting with strong North African links well attested by pottery import profile. This paper aims to explore affinities with both types of artistic representations in the region south of the former province of Lusitania, as well as to see North African links.

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