Detail of a Mosaic Floor Panel in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, September 2009

Mosaic floor panel
Roman, Imperial, 2nd century AD
Excavated from a villa at Daphne near Antioch (modern Antakya, Turkey), the metropolis of Roman Syria.

Accession # 38.11.12

The rectangular panel represents the entire decorated area of a floor and was found together with another mosaic (now in the the Baltimore Museum of Art) in an olive grove at Daphne-Harbiye in 1937. In Roman times, Daphne was a popular holiday resort, used by the wealthy citizens and residents of Antioch as a place of rest and refuge from the heat and noise of the city. American excavations at Daphne in the late 1930s uncovered the remains of several well-appointed houses and villas, including the one that contained this mosaic. At the center is a panel (emblema) with the bust of a woman, decked out with a wreath of flowers around her head and a floral garland over her left shoulder. Traditionally identified as Spring, the figure is probably the representation of a more generic personification of abundance and good living, well situated to the luxurious atmosphere created at Daphne by its rich patrons.

Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.