Previous careful “excavation” work in the archives had allowed the author to shed light on the little known antiquarian issues relating to the discovery, removal and sale to Duke Ludwig of Bavaria of the great multi-coloured mosaic of Aion at the centre of the zodiac and Tellus with the four seasons. The work was discovered in the first half of the nineteenth century in a town house in Sentinum (modern day Sassoferrato, in the province of Ancona). Now, some decades later, the author returns to the subject for a more detailed stylistic examination of the mosaic and of the mistakes and iconographic anomalies, especially in terms of the sequence of the signs of the zodiac, since the Sentinum mosaic only has eleven signs and these are not depicted in accurate astronomic order. This contribution re-launches the thesis that such incongruities and anomalies should be attributed to damage done by the excavators and nineteenth century restorers in cutting and later putting the panels back together when the great mosaic was sectioned to make transport to Munich possible and that it is preferable to attribute such mistakes and lack of understanding to groups of itinerant Italian mosaic makers working from “travelling” drawings of complex subjects who did not fully understand the deep astronomical and symbolic meaning.
La domus sentinate col mosaico di Aiòn:decorazione musiva e anomalie iconografiche
CATANI, Enzo
2008-01-01
Abstract
Previous careful “excavation” work in the archives had allowed the author to shed light on the little known antiquarian issues relating to the discovery, removal and sale to Duke Ludwig of Bavaria of the great multi-coloured mosaic of Aion at the centre of the zodiac and Tellus with the four seasons. The work was discovered in the first half of the nineteenth century in a town house in Sentinum (modern day Sassoferrato, in the province of Ancona). Now, some decades later, the author returns to the subject for a more detailed stylistic examination of the mosaic and of the mistakes and iconographic anomalies, especially in terms of the sequence of the signs of the zodiac, since the Sentinum mosaic only has eleven signs and these are not depicted in accurate astronomic order. This contribution re-launches the thesis that such incongruities and anomalies should be attributed to damage done by the excavators and nineteenth century restorers in cutting and later putting the panels back together when the great mosaic was sectioned to make transport to Munich possible and that it is preferable to attribute such mistakes and lack of understanding to groups of itinerant Italian mosaic makers working from “travelling” drawings of complex subjects who did not fully understand the deep astronomical and symbolic meaning.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
