A Mosaic in Two Halves...

[endlessrarities]

Back to the House of the Faun now, and one of the mosaics which caught my eye.  Which just so happens to be provenanced to the House of The Faun, only I never picked this nice little factoid up until I did the research for yesterday's post.

So here's the topic to ponder today.  Is it better for the observer of Roman mosaics/frescoes/ceramics/bronzes etc. to engage visually with these objects in a manner which classes like objects with like?  Or is it better to have the whole kit and kaboodle on display together so that we can get the impression of the whole assemblage?  How, for example, did the possessions of those who lived in the House of the Faun differ from those in some of the smaller houses...

Our museums have swung towards the latter approach, so much so that they often toss aside the whole idea of chronological narrative and replace it with a series of thematic displays (hello, National Museum of Scotland!) presumably because it's more 'child-friendly'.  To be honest, this leaves me feeling just as disorientated as I do when I have to go scurrying across miles of galleries to study material excavated from the structure on the same site! 

Is there scope for a happy medium?  I'm sure there must be, but I haven't found it yet.  Though if I was to recommend a truly engaging museum which seems to hit the right spot is Salisbury Museum.  I can't post you any pictures, because the stuffed shirts in charge don't allow photography in the galleries, so it's not exactly perfect...  But its regimented rows of collared urns are combined with just enough interpretation to let you know exactly what you're dealing with.

Back to Naples now, and an exquisite mosaic which depicts the birds and animals of the River Nile.  It's another manifestation of the trendy preoccupation with that exotic land and culture, Egypt, which appears to have been gripping many Pompeiians during the run-up to the eruption in AD 79:-

 

 

It's not the most accomplished of pieces, but it's certainly comprehensive.  You name it, it's got it: ibis, a cobra, a crocodile, and a rather naive hippo.

Yeah, I do like that hippo...  And if anyone can guess what that shaggy thing in the corner might be, I'm open to suggestions.  A mongoose, perhaps, or similar?

Verdict:  whoever owned The House of The Faun was a Roman with Very Good Taste.  Which, coming from me - Disliker of Most Things Roman - is praise indeed.

Now, if I had the time and the patience, I'd do a tapestry of that mosaic, just so I could have my own version to hang on the wall!  That'd be fun, wouldn't it??

Comments

[cmcmck.livejournal.com]

Those mosaics are gorgeous!

I tend to agree with you- we visited the archaeological museum in Siena which has a huge and wonderful collection of Etruscan artefacts (a bunch I find fascinating) and they mostly display like with like- and they display hordes together. I suspect anything else would be utterly overpowering. As it was, the visit took us well over 4 hours!

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

I remember really enjoying the Museum of the Iron Age in Andover - it wasn't quite as tacky as Jorvik, but it did play the Enya soundtrack to the Celts, which I thought was wonderful at the time (I was a 19 year old impressionable muppet...)

I think museums should be presented like a lively, engaging, authoritative synthesis, not a Ph.D. thesis!

[rowangolightly.livejournal.com]

I'd vote mongoose. And yes, the first thing I thought of was a tapestry. But then *I* would.

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

It struck me later that the juxtaposition with the cobra is a dead give away!

It would make a great tapestry, and it would be such fun to do...

[rowangolightly.livejournal.com]

I didn't think of that either, but you're absolutely right.

And it would but I don't need another project and I suspect you don't either!

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

Some day, when I finally retire...

[rowangolightly.livejournal.com]

HA! What's that?

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think I had my retirement in advance. In the ten years when I was struggling to get a real job and couldn't afford to get a pension because I was only working eight months out of the year if I was lucky.

Sigh:-(

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

That's what I was thinking! The combination with the cobra.

[bellakara.livejournal.com]

Well, I was pretty appalled by the Kelvingrove renovation, which seemed to be a postmodernist's attempt to deal with attention deficit disorder. Or perhaps they were just trying to induce it.

Those paintings are lovely.

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, tell me about it. I went for one of the caption-writing jobs, and didn't get it. In retrospective, I'm glad I fell at the last hurdle, because I'd cringe whenever I saw them...

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Haha, that hippo's FACE!

I definitely think that's a mongoose, since it seems to be squaring up to the snake.

It would make a fabulous wall hanging.

What I quite like in a museum is loads and loads of stuff crammed in all madly with old typed labels like the old Pitt Rivers, but that seems to be not at all The Thing.

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

The Stewartry Museum in Kirkcidbright's just like that - it's been preserved as an example of just such an old traditional museum. It's great fun!!

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I liked the two mallard ducks!