In 1841 the famous "rustic procession mosaic" was discovered in a room in the southern diaeta (mosaic 6). The room will have been a living room or a reception room. The entrance of the room has not been preserved, but the adjacent room with the geometric "squares and lozenges mosaic" seems to have been its vestibule. The mosaic is polychrome and has a figurative scene below a series of leaves and above braids. An angle indicates that the scene continued around the braids.
Click on the image to enlarge. Mosaic 6 (Von Gonzenbach 1961, nr. 2). Meas. 6.25 x 2.28 m. Photo: Von Gonzenbach 1961, Taf. 49.
Mosaic 6. Photo: Dubois 2016, fig. 174.The figurative scene consists of three sections separated by trees with only a few leaves. To the left is a cart with four wheels (in the foreground black, in the background yellow) drawn by two oxen. The load of the cart is in a net. The driver, wearing a mantle, is holding a long stick. To the right are two human figures wearing short tunics. The man to the left is holding a basket and a bundel of rods. The man to the right is blowing a horn and holding a stick. Various interpretations have been proposed. An attractive explanation comes from Henri Stern, building on the work of Paul Schazmann and others. He suggests that we see three representations of months. The cart is a farm wagon that brings in provisions for the winter. It represents December. The man on the left is a bird catcher. With his right hand he holds a jar of glue with which the ends of sticks were smeared. The hunter fitted the sticks (harundines) one into the other when a bird was perched too high for a single element to reach. He stands for November. The man on the right is a shepherd calling his flock. He represents October. The other nine months must been depicted on the other three sides of a rectangle, counter clockwise. Parallels are known in Gaul and North Africa. Victorine von Gonzenbach is not convinced, and only wants to think of a loose sequence of rural scenes.
Click on the image to enlarge. Detail of the left part of the mosaic. Photo: Wikimedia, Leemburg-CH.
Detail of the right part of the mosaic. Photo: Luginbühl et al. 2001, fig. 79.
Detail of the left figure. Photo: Von Gonzenbach 1961, Taf. 52.
Ex cuius plaga turdi evolaverunt. Parati aucupes cum harundinibus fuerunt et eos circa triclinium volitantes momento exceperunt. A number of thrushes flew out at the blow. As they fluttered round the dining-room there were fowlers ready with limed twigs who caught them in a moment. Ecce etiam per antemnam pelagiae consederant volucres, quas textis harundinibus peritus artifex tetigit; illae viscatis illigatae viminibus deferebantur ad manus. Besides all this, some sea-birds settled on one of the yards, and a clever sportsman took them in with jointed rod of rushes; they were snared by these limed twigs and brought down into our hands. Petronius, Satyricon 40,6 and 109,7. Translation Michael Heseltine.
Detail of the right figure. Photo: Von Gonzenbach 1961, Taf. 53.
[15-Mar-2024]
