Floor decoration in villa urbana with figurative motif of the punishment of Dirce

Floor decoration in villa urbana with figurative motif of the Punishment of Dirce

Floor decoration in villa urbana with figurative motif of the Punishment of Dirce

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OBJECT

OBJECT

Definition

mosaic floor

Identification

part of the decorative complex

Name/Dedication

Floor decoration in villa urbana with figurative motif of the punishment of Dirce

Position

Villa urbana, Vicolo Della Bissa, floor mosaic covers the floor in the 3rd room

Description

The mosaic is located in the area of a private commercial-residential building at 12 Sergijevaca Street. It covers the entire floor of the only excavated room of a villa urbana. It is divided into two unequal halves edged with a border. One half is made of hexagonal segments (honeycomb) with variously decorated rosettes, and the other half is made of nine decorated segments (floral and geometric designs), all bordered with double braiding. The central segment of the larger mosaic half contains a figurative motif known as the "Punishment of Dirce".

SUBJECT

SUBJECT

Identification

Villa urbana, Vicolo Della Bissa (today's courtyard at 12 Sergijevaca Street), Pula - floor mosaic decoration with Punishment of Dirce motif

Iconographic description

A rectangular mosaic divided into two unequal halves with 40 decorated segments and edged with a meander border motif made of 56 alternating square and 56 swastika segments. The smaller, southern half is made of a hexagonal mesh (honeycomb) bordered with a double braiding motif, while the bigger, northern half is made of nine rectangular and square segments, also bordered in double braiding. The southern half is divided by 31 variously decorated segments of which 8 are triangles, 6 are trapezia and 17 are hexagons (i.e.: whole segments, because the rest are the borders of the hexagonal mesh). The trapezoids on the northern and southern borders of the mesh display animal motifs (fish, dolphins and birds), while the polygonal segments are decorated with different six-leaf rosettes. The central polygonal segment is decorated with a multi-leaf rosette. The northern half of the mosaic is divided into a mesh of alternating square and rectangular segments with a larger central square segment. Four smaller corner squares are decorated with stylized vines. The northern and southern rectangles are decorated with a geometrical motif in the form of a stylized swastika, while the eastern and western rectangles are decorated each with one rhombus embellished with stylized floral motifs. The central square segment displays a figurative composition with two naked male figures holding, between them, a bull by the horns. Below that group is a half-naked female figure in a semi-reclining position with attributes on the ground. Above the whole group there is a vine branch (GOBIĆ-BRAVAR Đ., MILOTIĆ BULIĆ L., 2013., Mozaik “Kažnjavanja Dirke” u Puli, konzervatorsko-restauratorski osvrt, Histria archeologica 43, 47-66.; MATIJAŠIĆ R., BURŠIĆ-MATIJAŠIĆ K. 1996., Antička Pula, 163-173; MEDER J. 2003., Podni mozaici u Hrvatskoj od 1.-6. stoljeća, 55-56).

Iconological description

The two, unequal mosaic halves are decorated with various motifs. The smaller, southern half of the mosaic is mainly decorated with rosettes in whole polygonal segments, while the trapezoidal segments contain animal figures: birds, fish and dolphins, which, in light of the Early Christian period, might indicate hidden Christian symbolism (a dolphin in combination with an anchor often represents the Christian soul or Church; the fish, in Greek "Ichthys", was a common acrostic for the name of Christ; and birds usually symbolize the soul) (BADURINA, A. (ed.) 1990. Leksikon ikonografije, liturgike i simbolike zapadnog kršćanstva, Zagreb, 462, 495, 509). The larger, northern mosaic half is a mesh of squares and rectangles. Four smaller corner squares are decorated with a stylized vine tendril. The eastern and western rectangles are equal size and contain a combination of geometrical figures - a rhombus with smaller polygonal segments bordered with a double braid, while the central segment contains a rosette, and the empty space around the rhombus a stylized vine tendril. The northern and southern rectangles contain a geometrically shaped rhombus-like figure with elements of a stylized meander, a combination of squares and swastikas, and the whole composition brings to mind a labyrinth (there is a possible connection to the mythological motif of Theseus and the Minotaur). The southern rectangle contains a vine decoration, which is not visible in the northern rectangle. The central and principal segment, by which the whole mosaic got its name, contains the motif that goes by the name of the “Punishment of Dirce". It is a Greek mythological motif from the Dirce punishment cycle, and the scene depicts the moment when the twins Amphion and Zethus, sons of Antiope, punish Dirce by tying her to the horns of a bull. Previously Dirce had been cruel to their mother Antiope, and when they found out they punished her with this act of revenge. Except for the Dirce figure, her attributes the thyrsus and the cymbal are also visible. From the additional attributes in the picture, like the vine branch above the group of figures, and given the time of its creation, the motif could also be connected to hidden Early Christian symbolism. The same motif only appears in a few other places, mostly notably in the sculpture known as "Toro Farnese", located in Napoli, which dates from the beginning of the 3rd century and, is modelled on the example of a group of Greek figures from the 2nd century BC which has not been preserved, while a nice example of this motif, in a fresco painting from Pompeii, is located in the House of Vettii in Pompeii and dates from the 1st century. A floor mosaic with the same motif exists in Écija and dates from the end of the 2nd century and the beginning of the 3rd century (ISTRAPEDIA, http://istrapedia.hr/hrv/1714/kaznjavanje-dirke-mozaik/istra-a-z/ [19.9. 2014.], MEDER J. 2004, Tri Dirke, Histria archeologica 35/2004, 41-74).

GEOGRAPHICAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE LOCATION

Country

Croatia

City

Pula

Locality

Pula

SPECIFIC LOCATION

Typology

villa

Qualification

urban villa

Denomination

Vicolo della Bissa

Date

2. century - 3. century

Address

Ulica Sergijevaca br.12, Pula

Specific location

The floor in the central area of a former Roman villa urbana (third room)

Notes

The 2nd to 3rd centuries refers to the date of the villa urbana. After bombing in the Second World War a business building was built in the mid-1950s on the location of the site.

METHOD OF FINDING

Type of finding

excavation

INFORMATIONS ON FINDING

Denomination of archaeological site

Punishment of Dirce

Management of the work

Archaeological Museum of Istria in Pula

Those who did the work

Mlakar, Štefan

Date

1958 ; 1959

Notes

The excavation of the site was carried out after reconstruction of areas demolished during bombing in the Second World War.

CHRONOLOGY

GENERAL CHRONOLOGY

Century

2. century - 3. century

SPECIFIC CHRONOLOGY

From

100

post

To

400

Validity

ante

bibliography

CULTURAL DEFINITION

AUTHOR

Name

Italic itinerant workers

Personal data/chronology

2. century - 3. century

Grounds of basing the dates

stylistic analysis

SUPPORT

SUPPORT

Typology

fixed

Material

reinforced concrete

TESSERAE

TESSERAE MATERIAL

Material

stone, marble, glass paste

Color

white, black, red, several shades of blue, yellow, green

Typology

artificial

Use method

The method of tessera tile stacking is differentiated: the border motifs show a simple stacking system, where decorative geometrical motifs are stacked in a specific way, two border rows of cubes, then filled, and a figurative central motif is composed of smaller tessera tiles stacked in complex way to give a sense of volume.

TECNIQUE

TECNIQUE

Denomination

mosaic work

Method

direct

SIZES OF ARTWORK

SIZES OF ARTWORK

Unit of measurement

cm

Width

400

Length

750

PRESERVATION STATUS & RESTORATION

PRESERVATION STATUS

Date

1959

Description

After determining the condition of the mosaic and the site, carried out by the Archaeological Museum of Istria in Pula and the Conservation Department in Rijeka, the first conservation-restoration works under the supervision of the Federal Institute for the Protection of Historical Monuments in Belgrade were conducted by students of the Academy of Visual Arts in Belgrade and experts from the Conservation Department in Rijeka. After these interventions, in 2012 and 2013 a detailed analysis of the condition of the mosaic was carried out by the Archaeological Museum of Istria in Pula (GOBIĆ-BRAVAR Đ., MILOTIĆ BULIĆ L., 2013., Mozaik “Kažnjavanja Dirke” u Puli, konzervatorsko-restauratorski osvrt, Histria archeologica 43, 47-66).

RESTORATION

Date

1964 – 1965

Description

The entire mosaic was separated from its foundation, which was then replaced by a new one (probably reinforced concrete), and then the mosaic was returned in situ (damage was made good), but during the process the reconstructed parts were not labelled, making it difficult to determine the original parts. There is no adequate documentation regarding the procedure, in the later analysis of 2012/2013 Archaeological Museum experts used available editions of daily newspapers from the 1960s to assist them. During 2012 and 2013, after detailed analysis of the mosaic, the Archaeological Museum of Istria in Pula replaced the dilapidated PVC corrugated roof with a new structure of metal and polycarbonate sheets, and during the process all the rainwater drains were cleaned (GOBIĆ-BRAVAR Đ., MILOTIĆ BULIĆ L., 2013., Mozaik “Kažnjavanja Dirke” u Puli, konzervatorsko-restauratorski osvrt, Histria archeologica 43, 47-66).

DOCUMENTARY & INFORMATIVE SOURCES

IMAGES

pu_pod_001_ICON_-med.jpg

Floor decoration in villa urbana with figurative motif of the Punishment of Dirce

pu_pod_001_ICON_-med.jpg

Unković A.

Floor decoration in villa urbana with figurative motif of the punishment of Dirce

pu_pod_002-med.jpg

Unković A.

Floor decoration in villa urbana with figurative motif of the punishment of Dirce

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BUDURINA ANDELKO Leksikon ikonografije, liturgike i simbolike zapadnog kršćanstva

BIBLIOGRAPHY

MATIJASIC ROBERT Antička Pula s okolicom