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Roman, late Imperial to Byzantine period, ca. 4th to 5th century CE. A remarkable mosaic from the Kimbros cycle featuring a seated male figure in front of the robed lower body of Eikas - the female personification of the 20th day - whose name is inscribed below, all delineated in hundreds of vibrant stone tesserae. Based on other depictions of Eikas in the Kimbros cycle, this couple likely serves as an embodiment of the date with the male symbolizing a specific month. Dressed in a toga, he turns to his left, holding an object in his right hand while supporting himself with his left. This panel is from a cycle of mosaics depicting events in the childhood and education of a young man named Kimbros, a person otherwise absent from historical record. These impressive narrative panels are some of the only visual materials we now have depicting the Roman paideia - the rearing and education of children to help them become ideal members of the empire. Size (of mosaic): 30.5" W x 24.2" H (77.5 cm x 61.5 cm); (of matrix): 29.25" W x 33.26" H (74.3 cm x 84.5 cm)

Fifteen of the biographical panels are known, all in private hands. They chronicle Kimbros's life in a particularly meticulous way, showing his birth to a wealthy family, his early life and participation in activities of the household, the trials and hardships of childhood, and ultimately how he is led on the path of learning by various teachers.

Mosaics (opus tesellatum) are some of our enduring images from the Roman world, not only for their aesthetic beauty, but also because they reveal what Romans chose to depict and see every day decorating their private and public spaces. This example is abstract in its intention and presents the ancients' keen eye for design and fascination with geometry. In the Roman province of Syria, which encompassed most of the ancient Near East/Levant, mosaics seem to have developed as a popular art form relatively late, with most finds coming from the 3rd century CE or later. Syria was one of Rome's wealthiest provinces, but it was also far removed from Rome itself and Roman culture was overlaid on enduring cultural traditions from Hellenistic Greece and the great civilizations that came before it. For example, Antioch-on-the-Orontes (modern day Antakya, Turkey), was the capital of northern Roman Syria, and its excavations in the 1930s revealed more than three hundred mosaic pavements. Popular mosaic themes from this region were often mythological or religious scenes, depicting gods and goddesses; however, sometimes mosaics were created to fit the theme of a building or room.

Other panels from the Kimbros cycle have been published in "'Culture's Visual Culture: The Iconography of Education and of Intellectual, Musical and Literary Pursuits in Roman Art" by Bjorn Christian Ewald in "Was Ist Bildung in Der Vormoderne?" Ed. by Peter Gemeinhardt, Pp. 109-165. Studies in Education and Religion in Ancient Pre-Modern History in the Mediterranean and Its Environs, 4., 2019, as well as 2 articles by Sarah E. Cox: "Paideia's Children: Childhood Education on a Group of Late Antique Mosaics" in Hexperia Supplement 41, 2007 and "Bringing Up Baby: Five Unpublished Panels in the Kimbros Mosaic Series" XII Colloquio AIEMA, Venezia, 11-15 September 2012, ATTI, 2015.

Provenance: private New York, New York, USA collection; ex-private prominent Daryl Kulok collection, New York, USA, acquired in the 2000s

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#175473

Set in a modern plaster matrix with a metal frame. Fragment of a larger piece with losses to upper and right areas, as well as along peripheries. Some expected nicks and chips to some tesserae. Otherwise, great remaining imagery and nice pigments.