Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Villa Romana Del Casale: Armerina, Sicily

Photos by Jack Waldron

Villa Romana is a World Heritage Site, and contains some of the most spectacular Roman floor mosaics (from 2nd - 4th century AD) to be found in Italy. The owner of the villa is still uncertain, but must have been a very important aristocrat from the period.  From a bed chamber, an erotic mosaic (pictured above and below).
Pictured below, the underfloor of the tepidarium.
The Corridor of the Great Hunt is almost 66 meters long, and displays the capturing of animals from North Africa to India for gladiatorial exhibition.
The techniques used to capture the animals is extremely interesting, such as the use of a mirror to fool a mother tiger into believing she has found her cub, while the capturers apprehend the cub itself.  The animals are loaded onto transport ships . . . scenes that remind one of the Noah Ark epic.
A boar hunt scene from the Room of the Small Hunt. Pictured below, the full mosaic displays the hunting of numerous wild beasts. Notice the deer hunt at bottom left, with the use of nets.
Pictured above, Room of the Ten Girls, which is actually displaying women performing gymnastic exercises and receiving prizes.
Pictured above, cupids fishing.
Pictured above, a bedchamber with a mosaic of children involved in a hunt.  Notice the rat biting the boys leg at bottom left.
Beautiful Armerina, near the Villa Romana.
The very busy public fountain in Armerina, where residents collect their very fresh drinking water.

*All photos and content property of Jack Waldron (photos may not be used without written permission)

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