Roman Mosaics Across the Empire opens today at The Getty Villa. The exhibition, on view through 12 September 2016, explores the elaborate mosaic floors that transformed entire rooms into spectacular settings of vibrant color, figural imagery, and geometric design at the height of the Roman empire. The show presents scenes from mythology, daily life, the natural world, and spectacles in the arena along with the contexts of their discovery across Rome’s expanding empire—from its center in Italy to provinces in North Africa, southern Gaul, and ancient Syria.
Posted by Anne Leader
Corner panel from Bear Hunt (detail), A.D. 300-400, Baiae, Italy, stone. The J. Paul Getty Museum
Subterranean room in the House of Amphitrite, Bulla Regia, Tunisia. Courtesy of the Getty Conservation Institute. Photo by Scott S. Warren
Combat Between Dares and Entellus, A.D. 175-200, Villelaure, France, stone and glass. The J. Paul Getty Museum
Port Scene (detail), A.D. 1-300, North Africa, stone and glass. Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, from the Collection of James E. and Elizabeth J. Ferrell (L.2014.1)
Left panel from Pair of Peacocks, A.D. 400-600, possibly Emesa, Syria, stone. The J. Paul Getty Museum, Gift of William Wahler
Hare and Birds with Geometric Designs (detail), about A.D. 400, Antioch (now Turkey), stone. The J. Paul Getty Museum