Mosaic

Photograph of a mosaic fragment fashioned from tiny pieces of stone and colored glass to depict a frieze of a flowering lotus and palmettes.

Mosaic with Lotuses and Palmettes

Medium:
Stone and glass
Dimensions:
H. 22.5 cm; L. 32.5 cm
Context:
Hadrian’s Villa, Tivoli, Italy
Date:
Roman, 125–133 CE
Inventory Number:
inv. 57.261
Lender:
Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris
© BnF

This fragment of a Roman floor mosaic was found in the ruins of Hadrian’s Villa at Tivoli, about thirty kilometers east of Rome. It is part of a famous mosaic of bathing doves from the site, which is thought to be an extremely fine copy of a celebrated work by Sosos of Pergamon (second century BCE)—the only mosaicist mentioned by name in ancient literature.