The Worcester Hunt Mosaic is a large Byzantine floor mosaic located at Worcester Art Museum in Worcester, Massachusetts. [1] The mosaic was originally constructed for an upscale villa in Daphne, just outside of Antioch. The mosaic was discovered during an archeological expedition which lasted between 1932 and 1939. [1] It is currently the largest Antioch mosaic located within the United States. It measures approximately 20.5 feet x 23.3 feet.
Mosaics were an important form of Byzantine art and many examples were produced between the 6th and the 15th century AD. [2] The Worcester Hunt is a well-preserved example of sixth century Byzantine mosaics. Most large-scale works of Byzantine art during this period were commissioned by the Eastern Orthodox Church or wealthy patrons of the elite upper classes. [3] Mosaics were a significant development during the sixth century and were commonly used to adorn the interior floors and walls of church buildings as a display of religious fervor and political authority.
Located in the southwestern corner of Anatolia along the Mediterranean coastline, Daphne was an ancient resort community situated in the hills overlooking the Seleucid city of Antioch, which the Byzantines had inherited from the Roman Empire. Antioch was a strategically important city and sat upon the confluences of significant trade routes. [4] The political and cultural significance of Antioch and its surrounding areas was displayed through grand artistic works such as floor mosaics. From the 3rd century onwards, mosaics became a popular form of ornamentation among the wealthy elite.
The Worcester Hunt was constructed in the early sixth century, likely during the reign of Justinian I. It is unique among other well-known Byzantine mosaics because it was not located in a place of worship, and it does not depict religious themes. Pre-Iconoclastic mosaics such as the Worcester Hunt are valuable sources of early Byzantine art because the political and social upheaval of the Iconoclasm resulted in the destruction of many artistic creations including mosaics. [5] The scale of the Worcester Hunt and the location in which it was constructed suggests that it was the private property of a wealthy Byzantine aristocrat. This mosaic would have been the centerpiece of a large residence, built for the purpose of leaving a lasting impression upon guests. The scale of the Worcester Hunt in comparison to other privately-owned Byzantine works of this period demonstrates the extensive time and funding that would have been required to create such a piece. The relatively well-preserved state of this large mosaic is also notable because this region experienced frequent earthquakes throughout the centuries.
In 1268, the Mamluks of Egypt sacked the city of Antioch and most of the inhabitants were killed while others were enslaved. [6] The population of Antioch continued a gradual decline over the next few centuries until all that remained of the city were a series of uninhabited ruins.
In 1931, the "Committee for the Excavation of Antioch and Its Vicinity" was created by a coalition of archaeologists funded by Louvre Museum, Baltimore Museum of Art, Worcester Art Museum, Princeton University, and Harvard University. [7] The expedition began in 1932, but archaeologists did not locate any major buildings as they had intended. They did however manage to uncover a great deal of mosaics in Antioch and the surrounding areas, including the ones found at Daphne. [8] Some of the discoveries remained in modern-day Turkey while others such as the Worcester Hunt were purchased by educational institutions. In 1936, Worcester Museum acquired the Worcester Hunt mosaic, where it remains today. [1]
The mosaic features multiple hunters, who are presumed to be members of the Byzantine aristocracy. Some are riding horses while others are stationary. At the center of the piece stands a single hunter who observes others as they use bows, spears, and swords to subdue large, dangerous game animals. The mosaic also depicts younger animals that are not the target of the hunters. This feature indicates that the hunters may have possessed an understanding of conservation and that their efforts were deliberately aimed at preventing the extinction of these animals. Some of these animals (most notably the tiger) would have been considered exotic game as they were not native to the region. This piece is an excellent example of secular Byzantine art as it lacks any significant religious iconography or allusions. Although faded to a degree, much of the vivid coloring in this piece remains easily visible.
The region surrounding Antioch represented a crossroads between the Eastern and Western art forms in the late antiquity and early medieval periods. This blending of artistic styles is reflected in several ways when examining the Worcester Hunt. The figures are all arranged in a circular pattern around a central figure, which is a trademark feature of ancient Persian artwork. [1] While the garments of the hunters appear to be of Greco-Roman origin, some of the weapons observed have a more eastern-inspired style. The mosaic contains a somewhat abstract depiction of humans while the animals appear to be more detailed, giving them a more realistic appearance. Many artists of this period sought to evoke classical elements in their work and this resulted in a tendency to incorporate classical Greco-Roman principles into Byzantine art. [9] The various thematic elements showcased in the mosaic demonstrate how the artist incorporated styles from multiple cultures when constructing this piece. Byzantine art fluctuated between naturalistic and abstract depictions depending on social and religious factors. [10]
Antioch on the Orontes was a Hellenistic Greek city founded by Seleucus I Nicator in 300 BC. It was one of the greatest and most important Greek cities of the Hellenistic period. The city served as the capital of the Seleucid Empire and later as regional capital to both the Roman and Byzantine Empire. During the Crusades, Antioch served as the capital of the Principality of Antioch, one of four Crusader states that were founded in the Levant. Its inhabitants were known as Antiochenes. The modern city of Antakya, in Hatay Province of Turkey, was named after the ancient city, which lies in ruins on the Orontes River and did not overlap in habitation with the modern city.
A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly popular in the Ancient Roman world.
The medieval art of the Western world covers a vast scope of time and place, with over 1000 years of art in Europe, and at certain periods in Western Asia and Northern Africa. It includes major art movements and periods, national and regional art, genres, revivals, the artists' crafts, and the artists themselves.
Byzantine art comprises the body of Christian Greek artistic products of the Eastern Roman Empire, as well as the nations and states that inherited culturally from the empire. Though the empire itself emerged from the decline of Rome and lasted until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, the start date of the Byzantine period is rather clearer in art history than in political history, if still imprecise. Many Eastern Orthodox states in Eastern Europe, as well as to some degree the Islamic states of the eastern Mediterranean, preserved many aspects of the empire's culture and art for centuries afterward.
The art of Ancient Rome, and the territories of its Republic and later Empire, includes architecture, painting, sculpture and mosaic work. Luxury objects in metal-work, gem engraving, ivory carvings, and glass are sometimes considered to be minor forms of Roman art, although they were not considered as such at the time. Sculpture was perhaps considered as the highest form of art by Romans, but figure painting was also highly regarded. A very large body of sculpture has survived from about the 1st century BC onward, though very little from before, but very little painting remains, and probably nothing that a contemporary would have considered to be of the highest quality.
Carolingian art comes from the Frankish Empire in the period of roughly 120 years from about 780 to 900—during the reign of Charlemagne and his immediate heirs—popularly known as the Carolingian Renaissance. The art was produced by and for the court circle and a group of important monasteries under Imperial patronage; survivals from outside this charmed circle show a considerable drop in quality of workmanship and sophistication of design. The art was produced in several centres in what are now France, Germany, Austria, northern Italy and the Low Countries, and received considerable influence, via continental mission centres, from the Insular art of the British Isles, as well as a number of Byzantine artists who appear to have been resident in Carolingian centres.
The Basilica of San Vitale is a late antique church in Ravenna, Italy. The sixth-century church is an important surviving example of early Christian Byzantine art and architecture. It is one of eight structures in Ravenna inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Its foundational inscription describes the church as a basilica, though its centrally-planned design is not typical of the basilica form. Within the Roman Catholic Church it holds the honorific title of basilica for its historic and ecclesial importance.
The Worcester Art Museum, also known by its acronym WAM, houses over 38,000 works of art dating from antiquity to the present day and representing cultures from all over the world. WAM opened in 1898 in Worcester, Massachusetts, and ranks among the more important art museums of its kind in the nation. Its holdings include some of the finest Roman mosaics in the United States, outstanding European and American art, and a major collection of Japanese prints. Since acquiring the John Woodman Higgins Armory Collection in 2013, WAM is also home to the second largest collection of arms and armor in the Americas. In many areas, it was at the forefront in the US, notably as it collected architecture, acquired paintings by Monet (1910) and Gauguin (1921), presented photography as an art form (1904). The Worcester Art Museum also has a conservation lab and year-round studio art program for adults and youth.
Aniconism is the absence of material representations of the natural and supernatural world in various cultures, particularly in the monotheistic Abrahamic religions.
The Church of St. Mary of the Admiral, also called Martorana, is the seat of the Parish of San Nicolò dei Greci, overlooking the Piazza Bellini, next to the Norman church of San Cataldo, and facing the Baroque church of Santa Caterina in Palermo, Sicily, southern Italy.
Ernst KitzingerFBA was a German-American historian of late antique, early medieval, and Byzantine art.
The Byzantine Iconoclasm were two periods in the history of the Byzantine Empire when the use of religious images or icons was opposed by religious and imperial authorities within the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the temporal imperial hierarchy. The First Iconoclasm, as it is sometimes called, occurred between about 726 and 787, while the Second Iconoclasm occurred between 814 and 842. According to the traditional view, Byzantine Iconoclasm was started by a ban on religious images promulgated by the Byzantine Emperor Leo III the Isaurian, and continued under his successors. It was accompanied by widespread destruction of religious images and persecution of supporters of the veneration of images. The Papacy remained firmly in support of the use of religious images throughout the period, and the whole episode widened the growing divergence between the Byzantine and Carolingian traditions in what was still a unified European Church, as well as facilitating the reduction or removal of Byzantine political control over parts of the Italian Peninsula.
Early Byzantine mosaics in the Middle East are a group of Christian mosaics created between the 4th and the 8th centuries in ancient Syria, Palestine and Egypt when the area belonged to the Byzantine Empire. The eastern provinces of the Eastern Roman Empire and its continuation, the Byzantine Empire, inherited a strong artistic tradition from pagan Late Antiquity. The tradition of making mosaics was carried on in the Umayyad era until the end of the 8th century. The great majority of these works of art were later destroyed but archeological excavations unearthed many surviving examples.
The Antioch mosaics are a grouping of over 300 mosaic floors created around the 3rd century AD, and discovered during archaeological excavations of Antioch between 1932 and 1939 by a consortium of five museums and institutions. About half of the mosaics are now in the Hatay Archaeology Museum in Antakya, with the rest in the Worcester Art Museum, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Baltimore Museum of Art, Harvard University and Princeton University Art Museum among others. The mosaics range in design from realistic imagery and scenes to purely geometric patterns.
Portraits of the Apostles are a common subject in Christian art and serve as a devotional tool for many Christian denominations. The Twelve Apostles were instrumental in teaching the gospel of Jesus, "continuing the mission of Jesus" with their depictions continuing to serve as spiritual inspiration and authority. Many Protestant denominations reject religious imagery, including the veneration of the apostles and other religious figures.
The Throne of Maximian is a cathedra that was made for Archbishop Maximianus of Ravenna and is now on display at the Archiepiscopal Museum, Ravenna. It is generally agreed that the throne was carved in the Greek East of the Byzantine Empire and shipped to Ravenna, but there has long been scholarly debate over whether it was made in Constantinople or Alexandria.
The Christ Pantocrator of St. Catherine's Monastery at Sinai is one of the oldest Byzantine religious icons, dating from the 6th century AD. It is the earliest known depiction of Jesus Christ as Pantocrator that survives. It is regarded by historians and scholars to be one of the most important and recognizable works in the study of Byzantine art as well as Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Christianity.
The Fieschi Morgan Staurotheke is a small reliquary designed to hold a relic of the true cross, it is 1 1/16 x 4 1/16 x 2 13/16 inches overall with lid. It is an example of Byzantine enameling. The box is dated to 843. Both dates hover around the second wave of Byzantine Iconoclasm from 814 to 842, allowing this piece to become a lens into the post iconoclastic art. These reliquaries doubled as an icon in style and purpose. The physical material of icons and the content within the reliquary were believed to contained a spirit or energy. It was believed that reliquaries contained great power, thus explains its preservation throughout the years. There are numerous theories of where this piece was created and its movement. It's currently on display at the Metropolitan Museum.
The Judgement of Paris is the theme of a mosaic from the early second century AD, discovered in 1932 in Antioch. It is one of the most important mosaics from the ancient city, which was located a short distance from the site of modern Antakya (Antioch). The mosaic is normally housed in Paris at the Louvre, although it has been known to go on tour. In 2007 it was scheduled to feature in an itinerant exhibition of important pieces that the Louvre organised in the United States.
The Megalopsychia Hunt of Antioch are two floor mosaics from the late fifth to early sixth century, part of a large group of mosaics known collectively as the Antioch mosaics. They were discovered at the ancient village of Yakto, near Daphne, a suburb of Antioch, near the modern city of Antakya, Turkey.