"Made in the undulating opus vermiculatum technique, the mosaic panel depicts a semi-nude man reclining on a couch, raising the cover draped over his legs. Standing in front of him is a semi-nude woman wearing only a strophium (bandeau bra) and a yellow mantle that has fallen down her to knees. It's an amorous scene, the beginning of an intimate encounter, set in a private bedroom or cubiculum."
"The style and motif of the panel dates it to between the middle of the 1st century B.C. and the 1st century A.D. when domestic scenes like this gained popularity over the heroic mythological scenes preferred in the Hellenistic era."
"The Park carried out multi-disciplinary analyses of the panel and found evidence indicating it was produced in Latium and then sold out of the region. The mosaic workshops (musivarii) distributed their work across wider geographical areas than previously understood."
A mosaic panel showing an amorous scene between a semi-nude man and woman, created using opus vermiculatum technique, was looted by a Wehrmacht captain during World War II and later repatriated by his descendants' family. The panel dates to between the middle of the 1st century B.C. and 1st century A.D., when domestic scenes replaced mythological subjects in popularity. Initially assigned to the Archaeological Park of Pompeii due to stylistic similarities with comparable mosaics found near Vesuvius and in Stabiae villas, multi-disciplinary analyses revealed the panel was actually produced in Latium and sold outside the region. The discovery demonstrates that mosaic workshops distributed their work across wider geographical areas than previously assumed.
#roman-mosaic-art #nazi-looted-art-repatriation #pompeii-archaeology #opus-vermiculatum-technique #latium-workshops
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