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© Museu d'Arqueologia de Catalunya - Barcelona
Omeka ID 2367
Empúries. Neàpolis
Roman world

fish mosaic

MAC BCN-004030

Object type
mosaic
Production date
1 / 100
Fabric
-
Museum
Museu d'Arqueologia de Catalunya - Barcelona
Culture
Roman world
Discovery location
Empúries. Neàpolis
Materials
marble
Township
Escala, l' (Europa, Espanya, Catalunya, Girona, Alt Empordà)
Technique
opus vermiculatum
Where is it?
Exposició permanent
Dimensions
400 x 750 mm
Description
The mosaic, which follows the stylistic outlines of leading Hellenistic products, is a clear demonstration of the technique of opus vermiculatum: the composition was made with very small stones, which thus allowed objects that required more precision to be drawn more easily. It shows a scene with marine fish: they are easy to recognize a rainbow wrasse, a sea bass, a grouper and conger. On a rock, a small kingfisher has a shrimp in its beak, threatened by a crab, while on one side antennas of a lobster can be glimpsed. Although it would have been the emblem of a mosaic of high quality, arranged in a room of an important Roman house, it was found covering a tank in the excavations of Neapolis, in 1912. This indicates that it had already been broken in those times and removed from its original location.

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