Close up of mosaic tesserae depicting border with panter-griffin and lion partially visible, after conservation
- Description:
- Close up of mosaic tesserae depicting border with panter-griffin and lion partially visible, after conservation
- Photographer:
- Image captured by Project Staff
- Date Created:
- July 16, 2003
- Collection:
- Greco-Roman Museum Mosaic Conservation
- Series:
- Post-conservation
- Subseries:
- Stag Hunt Mosaic
- Location:
- Alexandria, Egypt and Al Iskandarīyah
- Time Period:
- Hellenistic Period and Ptolemaic Period
- Topic:
- Art, Greco-Roman, Borders, Ornamental (Decorative arts), Animals in art, and Greek mythology
- Genre:
- color photographs and documentary photography
- Conservation Note:
- A panther-griffin standing on all four legs with long upturned gray-blue horns and a long S-shaped tail curling under, terminating_in a tuft of hair indicated with irregular dark-yellowish pebbles. The nose, the open mouth, and inner parts of the ears are indicated with red and pink tesserae; the mouth itself is of a dark-brownish shade. Some shading of the inner parts of the legs is indicated with light pink tesserae. The eye is made of a round black pebble and surrounded with a lead strip. Lead was also used to mark the contours and details of the muscles, hair and beard. Claws and teeth were made of pieces of stone specially cut to fit the required shape. Next to it, a lion is standing firmly on all fours, facing right. The head is turned toward the viewer. The nose and mouth are pink red, the eyebrows black. Yellow pebbles and wide strips of lead were used for the mane and tip of the tail. Some red-pink stones and terracotta tesserae cut to size enhanced the shaded modeling of the legs and belly (Final Remarks Report).
- Copyright Status:
- copyrighted
- Creative Commons License:
- https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
- Local ID:
- arce_ca_mmc_images_0039.tif
- Project History:
- Within the walls of the Greco-Roman Museum, Alexandria, Egypt are three intricate mosaics of very fine quality between the second and third century, BCE. Under the auspices of the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE), Father Michele Piccirillo of the Studium Biblicum Franciscum directed the conservation of the mosaics. Notably, it resulted in the public viewing of the stag hunt mosaic for the first time since its discovery. Conservation work was made possible with the support of the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (formerly the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities).
- Funding Agency:
- Greco-Roman Museum Mosaic Conservation project was made possible with funding by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Grant No. 263-G-00-93-00089-00 and administered by the Egyptian Antiquities Project (EAP) of the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE).