Object type
mosaic
Culture/period
Rome
Materials
stone
Technique
opus vermiculatum
Mint
Production date
-100 / 1
Seu
Museu d'Arqueologia de Catalunya - Empúries
Current location
Exposició permanent
Archaeological site
Empúries. Ciutat Romana
Township
Escala, l' (Alt Empordà)
Dimensions
567 x 600 mm
Description
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Polichromatic mosaic emblem, made of small tesserae, following the opus vermiculatum technique and dating to the 1st century BC. Found in 1849 in a house in the Roman city that has not yet been excavated. It presided over the floor of a banquet room, the tricilinium, in the house.
It represents the scene of the sacrifice of Iphigenia, based on the tragedy of Euripides, Iphigenia in Aulide. The Greeks are in the port of Aulide to embark on the conquest of Troy, but cannot leave due to the lack of favourable winds. Agamemnon, chief of the Greek armies, had offended Artemis by wounding a deer dedicated to the goddess. In order to counteract the damage, it was necessary for him to sacrifice his daughter Iphigenia. The mosaic represents this moment of sacrifice, with Ulysses, dressed in a brown robe and with a lance in his hand, leading Iphigenia to the stone altar in the foreground. Agamemnon, afflicted with pain, covers part of his face with his right hand. Above the column are the images of Athena and Apollo, and in the upper right-hand corner emerges Artemis leading a deer destined to take the place of Iphigenia as a victim of last-minute sacrifice. The scene is delimited on one side by black tesserae, some of the coloured tesserae are missing and elsewhere are simulated in plaster.
© Museu d'Arqueologia de Catalunya - Empúries
Omeka ID
118