A Unique 'Two-Faced' Roman Mosaic from Pomezia, Italy

Minerva ^ | Issue 1705 | Dr Mark Merrony (I think)

[SunkenCiv]

Viewed one way is an image of a bald old man with a beard; from the opposite perspective the face appears as a beardless youth. This bizarre face is thought to depict Bacchus, the Roman god of wine and fertility, because of the association in the same panel with three of his cult objects, a two-handled drinking bowl (skyphos), a rattle (sistrum), and a wand (thyrsus).

This unique optical illusion, which may allude to the 'trickery' practised by the god, would also have neatly freed the ancient spectator from viewing the representation from a fixed perspective, which was a major deficiency of mosaic art. Depictions of Bacchus were common in the dining rooms of elite Roman citizens, and were generally oriented towards the more prestigious dinner guests.

[SunkenCiv]

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A two-faced 3rd-century AD mosaic from a villa at Pomezia, 20km from Rome, depicting Bacchus, the Roman god of wine and fertility. Photo: Roberto Cereghino.

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[SunkenCiv]

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. Thanks.

Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on or off the
"Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list or GGG weekly digest
-- Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
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[SunkenCiv]

There are loads of other news items at the link.

[PzLdr]

Sure it isn't an ancestor of Jean-Claude Kerry?

[SunkenCiv]

trompe l'oel

Google

[SunkenCiv]

Giuseppe Arcimboldo, "The Gardener" 16th century:

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[nopardons]

I LOVE Arcimboldo, but that's not exactly the same thing, as the Roman mosaic.

In early picture books for children, there are many illustrations ( an old woman/young girl, Red Ridinghood and the wolf, and several others ) which fit the same genre as the mosaic. These kinds of pictures are sometimes called "TOPSY TURVIES".

[GoLightly]

Reminds me of "All is Vanity"

http://www.sandlotscience.com/Ambiguous/All_is_Vanity1.htm

[SunkenCiv]

Not exactly the same thing, true, but I wonder if there wasn't a more robust tradition of these "topsy turvies" :') than is recognized now with this mosaic discovery. Arcimboldo was from northern Italy, after all, and other painters and sculptors were inspired by (usually more edifying) ancient works which happen to emerge when someone would dig a basement or whatever.

Arcimboldo was a major root of a number of different 19th and 20th century schools of painting, including surrealism -- but alas, also including the poker-playing dogs.

[SunkenCiv]

Nice. There's another, more subtle one, probably earlier than that example -- an odd smear in the background of a formal portrait turns out to be a skull when viewed through a sort of peekhole drilled into the frame.

[GoLightly]

My mom got a copy of "All is Vanity" (I think as some grocery store give away) when I was a kid. I somehow ended up with it & it's hanging on the wall by my front door. When you allow your teen-aged sons input into your decor, things like this can happen. lol There are other similar pictures, including at least one that looks like a devil. The devil one I just saw in images is with a couple of women, but I seem to remember one that used a couple of gentlemen.

Peekhole drilled in the frame, sounds interesting.

[SunkenCiv]

The Satan/Gossip print is also on that website you linked. :')

[SunkenCiv]

an ancient mythological character revived by Arcimboldo, Vertumnus, with the face of his patron the Holy Roman Emperor:

[GoLightly]

You sent me back there & I'm glad you did. There are some great optical illusions there.

That veggie man pic you posted... So did the HRE like it or was he offended by it? lol

[SunkenCiv]

My pleasure. :')

I think the name of the guy in that painting was "Stu".

[GoLightly]

I think the name of the guy in that painting was "Stu".

Is it possible to have Stu without any meat?

[freedumb2003]

A Unique 'Two-Faced' Roman Mosaic from Pomezia, Italy

They have a mosaic of John Kerry?

[SunkenCiv]

Hey, I'm not into alternative lifestyles... ;')

[SunkenCiv]

Bacchus up a minute. Dionysus ancestry isn't Italian?

[rimshot! rimshot!]

[freedumb2003]

GGG puns

The reason for the invention of the word "groan" ;)