A sad story must be told about a villa near Yvonand, on the south-eastern shore of the Lac de Neuchâtel. To the north-east of the village, at the locality La Baumaz, part of the main house was excavated in 1788 by Castella de Villardin, bailiff of nearby Cheyres (FR).
Click on the image to enlarge. Plan of the excavations in 1778. From Fribourg artistique 22 (1911), in Despland 2002.Two mosaics were discovered. The first, found in a room marked A on the plan, was a black-and-white geometric mosaic, measuring 5.70 x 5.70 m. A drawing was made by M. de Hennezel. It is not clear whether it is still in the ground or was destroyed because of neglect.
Drawing of the geometric mosaic in room A by M. de Hennezel. From Despland 2002.In a room marked B (a bathing room?) a polychrome mosaic of Orpheus charming animals was unearthed. It was found together with some coins, which made local people think that a treasure was buried below the mosaic. In search of the treasure they destroyed almost the entire mosaic, in a single night, leaving a deep pit and a few fragments. In 1779 Goethe saw the remains and wrote in one his letters: "Die Schweizer traktiren so etwas wie die Schweine" ("The Swiss treat such things like the pigs"). Fortunately a watercolour had been made by M. de Hennezel and a (less accurate) engraving by Charles Boily.
Click on the image to enlarge. Watercolour of the mosaic of Orpheus by M. de Hennezel. From Despland 2002.The mosaic measured 5.40 x 5.25 m. The scene with Orpheus has three borders: a black-and-white outer border of shields, and two polychrome inner borders, one with vessels and volutes, the other with braids. Braids also surround Orpheus and eight animals: leopards, a horse, a bear, a chamois, and deer. Between the panels with Orpheus and the animals are four birds. Orpheus is depicted in a tondo, seated in front of a tree. On his head is a wreath. In his left hand he holds a lyre on which is perched a small bird, in his right hand is a plectrum, the instrument with which the lyre was plucked. He is surrounded by a lion, a peacock, and a squirrel.
Plan of the excavations in 1911. To the right the room in which the Orpheus mosaic was found. From Despland 2002.In 1911 some more digging took place. The remaining fragments of the Orpheus mosaic were found and taken to museums in Yverdon and Lausanne, to Cheyres, and to a building of the Université de Fribourg.
View of the digging in 1911. From Despland 2002.
View of what was left of the Orpheus mosaic in 1911. From Despland 2002.
A fragment of the mosaic of Orpheus. From Despland 2002.
Literature
Ritter 1788, 20-21; Anzeiger für schweizerische Alterthumskunde 1,2-2 (1869), 39; 13,1 (1911), 59; Jahresbericht der Schweizerischen Gesellschaft für Urgeschichte 4 (1911), 186; 5 (1912), 189-190; Von Gonzenbach 1950; Von Gonzenbach 1961, 234-238; Drack-Fellmann 1988, 565-567; Dubois 1999(2); Despland 2002; Delbarre-Bärtschi 2014, 282.
[23-Mar-2024]
