Unearthing a Masterpiece: A Roman Mosaic from Lod, Israel, at Penn Museum, February 10-May 19 |
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February 5, 2013,
Volume 59, No. 20 |
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A large and exceptionally well-preserved ancient Roman floor mosaic, discovered in Lod, Israel, in 1996 and excavated in 2009, will make its final United States stop at the Penn Museum in Philadelphia before traveling to the Louvre in Paris and eventually to a new museum being built exclusively for it in Israel. Unearthing a Masterpiece: A Roman Mosaic from Lod, Israel will open at the Penn Museum February 10, at 1 p.m., and runs through May 19, 2013. (Above) This is the mosaic's central panel. Of exceptional quality and in an excellent state of conservation, the Lod Mosaic is believed to have been part of a large and well-appointed Roman house and is dated to about 300 CE. Photo © Israel Antiquities Authority. |
Exhibition Opening Day Special Guests and Festivities
The exhibition opening will begin at 1 p.m. on Sunday, February 10, with a ribbon cutting ceremony. Joining Julian Siggers, Penn Museum Williams Director, will be Shuka Dorfman, Director General of the Israeli Antiquities Institute; Yaron Sideman, Consul General of Israel to the Mid-Atlantic Region; Renato Miracco, Cultural Attaché, Italian Embassy; and Luigi Scotto, Consul General of Italy in Philadelphia. C. Brian Rose, Mediterranean Section Curator-in-Charge and content expert for the exhibition and Kate Quinn, Exhibition Director, will also participate.
Dr. Rose will draw guests into the process of Deciphering the Lod Mosaic at a 2 p.m. talk. A Family Second Sunday Workshop, Marvelous Mosaics, invites guests of all ages to discover the many mosaics in the Penn Museum’s collection, and create an original mosaic in the walk-in workshop from 1 to 4 p.m.
About the Exhibition
In 1996, workmen widening a road in Lod (formerly Lydda), Israel, made a startling discovery: signs of a Roman mosaic pavement were found about three feet below the modern ground surface. A rescue excavation conducted immediately by the Israel Antiquities Authority revealed a mosaic floor approximately 50 feet long by 27 feet wide. Of exceptional quality and in an excellent state of preservation, the complete mosaic, comprising seven panels, is symmetrically divided into two large “carpets” by a long rectangular horizontal panel. To preserve the mosaic, it was reburied until funding was secured for its full scientific excavation and conservation in 2009.
The mosaic floor is believed to come from the home of a wealthy Roman living in the Eastern Roman Empire at about 300 CE. Because the mosaic’s imagery has no overt religious content, it cannot be determined whether the owner was pagan, Jewish or Christian.
The exhibition features the three most complete and impressive panels found in what was probably a large reception room. Within the central panel—which measures 13 square feet—is a series of smaller squares and triangles depicting various birds, fish and animals that surround a larger octagonal scene with ferocious wild animals—a lion and lioness, an elephant, a giraffe, a rhinoceros, a tiger and a bull. Such animals were well known to the Romans since they appeared at gladiatorial games, where they were pitted either against each other or against human adversaries. It is indeed possible that the owner of the house was involved in the capture and trade of exotic animals for the games, which was a very lucrative profession during the empire.
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