Floor Fragment: Rampant Tiger

This panel from present-day Syria was part of a large floor mosaic depicting various wild beasts and domesticated animals, possibly in the form of a large hunting scene taking place on one of the great country estates in this eastern province of the late Roman Empire. Although tigers were not native to the Near East, ancient zoos and arenas for wild animal combats with gladiators were well stocked with exotic animals from Africa and the Far East.

The style of the mosaic echoes some of the illusionism familiar in the brightly colored wall paintings of the classical Greek and Roman world. However, the small square colored stone and marble cubes, called tesserae, when set side-by-side, form well-defined outlines and geometric patterns (as in the tiger’s spots) that tend to flatten the beast into a stylized image. Late antique floor mosaics generally used more muted colors than wall mosaics with their expensive colored glass and gilt tesserae.