Horse mosaic from Carthage
The horse mosaic of Carthage is a late Roman mosaic that was discovered in 1960 in the ruins of Carthage not far from a columned structure . It takes up an area of about 12 by 9 meters and is now located in the Roman villa park next to a villa called la volière ("the bird house").
The mosaic is structured like a chessboard, with small figured pictures, on which mostly horses are depicted, alternating with geometric patterns. In the opinion of the Tunisian archaeologist Azedine Beschaouch (* 1938) it is an "extensive, previously unprecedented iconographic catalog".
The various techniques used ( opus musivum and opus sectile ) as well as its original motifs make the mosaic one of the most interesting Carthaginian finds of the 20th century. Scientific questions regarding the exact dating, interpretation and its influences outside of Africa have not yet been finally clarified. In terms of style, there are similarities to the mosaics of the Villa Romana del Casale in Sicily .
literature
- Jan Willem Salomonson: La mosaique aux chevaux de l'antiquarium de Carthage. Imprimerie nationale, La Haye 1965.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Azedine Beschaouch: Encore "la mosaïque des chevaux" de Carthage: à propos de Polystephanus, le coursier aux multiple victoires. In: Comptes rendus de l'Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres (CRAI), Vol. 140, No. 4, 1996, p. 1316.
Coordinates: 36 ° 51 ′ 28 " N , 10 ° 19 ′ 53" E