Fragment of floor mosaic depicting a scrolling vine and birds
501-600
Scroll
Fragment of floor mosaic depicting a scrolling vine and birds
501-600
Physical Qualities
Stone, lime mortar, 45-1/4 x 103-1/2 in. (114.9 x 262.9 cm.); weight: 6369.75 lbs.
Credit Line
Antioch Subscription Fund
Object Number
1937.135
This fragment is the corner of a very large mosaic, 700 feet square. The interior portion of this "carpet pattern" design consists of small rosebuds set evenly against a light background. The outer border is far more elaborate. A thick vine emerges from a metallic urn in the corner. Birds and animals leap playfully within the compartments created by the turns of the thick vine and its thin tendrils. Clusters of grapes fill the empty spaces and provide food for the hungry birds. The inner border of the mosaic resembles a soft, twisting ribbon that undulates in three-dimensional space.
While the pattern may be a purely decorative "rinceau" (a continuous scroll of foliage), it is possible that the imagery refers to the teachings of the Early Christian Church which was gaining strength in Antioch in the 6th century. The fruitful vine recalls the words written in John 15:5, "I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit."
C. R. Morey, Museum Quarterly II, BMA, 1937-1938, no. 4, p. 4.
"Antioch-on-the Orontes, II, The Excavations, 1932-1936," Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1938, no. 55, pp. 186-187, pl. 41.
Doro Levi, "Antioch Mosaic Pavements," Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1947, vol. I, p. 366, vol. II, pl. XCI.
R. Stead, "Pavements from a Fabled City," "Pharos," Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, Florida, Fall/Winter 1964, pp. 5-8.
On View at the BMA
