Media Information

 
 
 
Collection:
ADJUNCT MODULE A: ITALIAN ART
Preferred Title:
Memento Mori Floor Mosaic
Alternate Title:
Allegoria della morte
Image View:
Detail, skull (death) resting on butterfly (the soul) on top of a wheel (fortune)
Creator:
unknown (Roman (ancient))
Location:
repository: Museo Archeologico Nazionale (Naples, Campania, Italy) 109982
Location Note:
Piazza Museo Nazionale, 19; Sala LIX
GPS:
40.8534 14.2505
Date:
30 BCE-14 CE (creation)
Cultural Context:
Roman (ancient)
Style Period:
Late Republican; Second Style
Work Type 1:
mosaic (visual work)
Work Type 2:
floor (surface element)
Classification:
mosaics
Material:
colored stone tesserae
Technique:
mosaic (process)
Measurements:
47 cm (height) x 41 cm (width)
Description:
The mosaic, which is in Second Style, formed the emblemata of a floor situated in the triclinium (house cum workshop, Officina coriariorum of M. Vesovius Primus (I.5.2.h); it presents an allegorical and symbolic approach to the philosophical theme, of Hellenistic origin, of the transience of life and the imminence of death ("memento mori") which, by eliminating the disparities of social class and wealth, restores equilibrium to the vagaries of fate. The upper part of the composition shows a level with a plumb-line, an instrument used by workmen to check the level of buildings. The axis of the plumb bob is death (the skull), while below it is a butterfly (the soul) balanced on a wheel (Fortune). Beneath the arms of the level, which are opposed and perfectly balanced, are the symbols of poverty to the right (the knapsack, the beggar’s stick and the cloak) and the symbols of wealth to the left (the sceptre, purple and the crown). (Source: Naples National Archaeological Museum [website]; http://cir.campania. beniculturali.it/mus eoarcheologiconazion ale)
Collection:
Adjunct Module A: Italian Art
Identifier:
7A1-R-NAM-MM-A02
Rights:
© Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc.

Memento Mori Floor Mosaic