Nile Mosaic of Palestrina

    The Palestrina Mosaic or Nile mosaic of Palestrina is a late Hellenistic floor mosaic depicting the Nile in its passage from the Blue Nile to the Mediterranean. The mosaic was part of a Classical sanctuary-grotto in Palestrina, a town east of Ancient Rome, in central Italy. It has a width of 5.85 metres and a height of 4.31 metres and provides a glimpse into the Roman fascination with ancient Egyptian exoticism in the 1st century BC, both as an early manifestation of the role of Egypt in the Roman imagination and an example of the genre of "Nilotic landscape", with a long iconographic history in Egypt and the Aegean.

    The mosaic, with an arch-headed framing that identifies its original location as flooring an apse in a grotto, features detailed depictions of Ptolemaic Greeks, Aethiopians in hunting scenes, and various animals of the Nile river. It is the earliest Roman depiction of Nilotic scenes, of which several more were uncovered at Pompeii. A consensus on the dating of the work is slowly emerging. Paul G. P. Meyboom suggests a date shortly before the reign of Sulla (ca. 100 BC) and treats the mosaic as an early evidence for the spread of Egyptian cults in Italy, where Isis was syncretised with Fortuna. He believes Nilotic scenes were introduced in Rome by Demetrius the Topographer, a Greek artist from Ptolemaic Egypt active ca. 165 BC. Claire Préaux emphasises the "escapist" nature of the fantastic scenery. (Wikipedia)

    Associated Passages
    Type
    Image
    License
    Creative Commons Attribution
    Date
    ca. 100 BC
    Culture
    Medium
    Location
    Museo Nazionale Prenestino

    Orpheus charming the animals, detail of a Roman Mosaic

      Orpheus charms the animals with his music.  Detail of a Roman floor mosaic from Building A, Piazza della Vittoria, Palermo. Museo Archeologico Regionale Antonio Salinas NI 2287. Photo by Marie-Lan Nguyen via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.5

      Associated Passages
      Type
      Image
      License
      Creative Commons Attribution
      Date
      c. 200-250 CE
      Medium
      Location
      Museo Archeologico Regionale Antonio Salinas, Palermo
      Image Credit

      Hercules diverting the rivers Alpheios and Peneus, detail of a Roman mosaic from Llíria

        Hercules cleans the Augean stables by rerouting the rivers Alpheus and Peneus. Museo Arqueológica Nacional, Madrid 38315BIS. Photo by Luis García via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

        Associated Passages
        Date
        200-250 CE
        Medium
        Location
        Museo Arqueológica Nacional, Madrid
        Image Credit

        Hercules and the Stymphalian Birds, detail of a Roman mosaic from Llíria

          Hercules hunts the Stymphalian Birds. Detail of The Twelve Labours Roman mosaic from Llíria, Spain. Museo Arqueológica Nacional, Madrid 38315BIS. Photo by Luis García via Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 3.0

          Associated Passages
          Type
          Image
          License
          Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike
          Date
          200-250 CE
          Medium
          Location
          Museo Arqueológica Nacional, Madrid
          Image Credit

          Hercules and the Golden Apples, detail of a Roman mosaic from Llíria

            Hercules stealing the Golden Apples from the Hesperides. Detail of The Twelve Labours Roman mosaic from Llíria, Spain. Museo Arqueológica Nacional, Madrid 38315BIS. Photo by Luis García via Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 3.0

            Associated Passages
            License
            Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike
            Date
            200-250 CE
            Medium
            Location
            Museo Arqueológica Nacional, Madrid
            Image Credit

            Hercules defeats the Mares of Diomedes, detail of the Twelve Labors from a Roman mosaic from Llíria

              Hercules subdues the man-eating Mares of Diomedes. Detail of a Roman mosaic from Llíria, Spain. Museo Arqueológica Nacional, Madrid, 38315BIS. Photo by Luis Garcia via Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 3.0.

              Associated Passages
              License
              Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike
              Date
              200-250 CE
              Medium
              Location
              Museo Arqueológica Nacional, Madrid
              Image Credit

              Gnōthi Sauton mosaic, convent of San Gregorio excavations

                Memento Mori mosaic from excavations in the convent of San Gregorio, Via Appia, Rome, Italy. Now in the Museo Nazionale Romano Terme di Diocleziano, Rome, Italy. The Greek motto gnōthi sauton (know thyself, nosce te ipsum) combines with the image to convey the famous warning: Respice post te; hominem te esse memento; memento mori. (Look behind; remember that you are mortal; remember death.)

                Associated Passages
                Date
                1st cen. CE
                Medium
                Location
                Museo Nazionale Romano Terme di Diocleziano

                Hercules slaying the Hydra, detail of the Twelve Labors from a Roman mosaic from Llíria

                  Hercules attacks the Hydra, while it coils its tail around his leg.  Museo Arqueológica Nacional, Madrid, 38315BIS. Photo by Luis García via Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 3.0

                  Associated Passages
                  Type
                  Image
                  License
                  Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike
                  Date
                  200-250 CE
                  Medium
                  Location
                  Museo Arqueológica Nacional, Madrid
                  Image Credit

                  Hercules slaying the Nemean lion, detail of the Twelve Labors from a Roman mosaic from Llíria

                    Hercules grapples with the Nemean lion. Museo Arqueológica Nacional, Madrid, 38315BIS. Photo by Luis García via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

                    Associated Passages
                    License
                    Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike
                    Date
                    200-250 CE
                    Medium
                    Location
                    Museo Arqueológica Nacional, Madrid
                    Image Credit