05-06-2010, 08:32 PM
The problem with interpreting a Roman mosaic is that we have to get inside the Roman mind and out of our own in order to do so. This would take an art historian, which I am not.
None the less, I will give my interpretation.
To begin with, the Roman artist would probably be depicting things from religion and mythology and not everday life. For example, in England the depiction of everday life with all its humor and vulgarity did not become widespread till William Hogarth in the 18th c. See, "The March to Finchley".
The mosaic that contains our subject has Neptune as central, so there is a religious aspect to begin with. We see four figures of nudes, two women and two men. Then we see four depictions of contemporary individuals doing what appears to our eyes to be manual labor. The "four" figures may have something to do with the seasons, but I don't know. However, I question what we are seeing is a depiction of average individuals doing everyday things. I think in each case they are meant to be allegorical figures from Greek and Roman mythology. The artist may have taken his images from everyday occurrences, and this interests me a great deal, because it is what connects my interpretation up. I think in each case the contemporary individuals are meant to show an historical or mythological figure doing some significant "act" out of a story and not a workman doing an everyday thing.
To concentrate on our "soldier" as I will call him, we see him dressed in a greenish tunic with clavii. He also wears a cloak in the fashion of a soldier as on various grave steles. He is carrying two baskets by means of a pole over his shoulders. I do not know how to interpret the significance of this. Perhaps they are meant to show a balancing task, or, justice, but they are not just baskets of stuff as we would think with our modern minds. Nearby, is a boar.The boar is much out of scale to him, so I don't think it is meant to show him herding a pig. The boar, as I understand it, in Roman symbology, means strength or virility or cunning. It was used as a symbol for the Legions. I am not sure what Legion was in Tunisia, or what its symbol was. The boar appears to precede him: Either running from him or perhaps leading the way? In any event, it looks as if the boar has his eyes turned on the soldier.
To me, our soldier is meant to show a figure from a Roman story. The fact that his appearance is contemporary in nature is what helps us, because the artist lifted a contemporary figure, dressed in a contemporary way to show a figure from a Roman story. I do not believe he would use a contemporary figure of low status to depict an important character in a Roman story. A god or an important character would be well dressed. The man is well proportioned, in his prime as soldiers are usually shown. He is dressed well, showing a person of status. The fashion of wearing both the tunic and the sagum are military like in nature. The over sized boar suggests a military connection, not an agrarian connection.
To tell his story, the artist lifts a figure out of everyday life who is strong, well dressed in a military fashion with a military symbol nearby. I think the artist used a soldier to show his story. If we knew more about the story the artist wished to tell, it would help, but I don't.
John
None the less, I will give my interpretation.
To begin with, the Roman artist would probably be depicting things from religion and mythology and not everday life. For example, in England the depiction of everday life with all its humor and vulgarity did not become widespread till William Hogarth in the 18th c. See, "The March to Finchley".
The mosaic that contains our subject has Neptune as central, so there is a religious aspect to begin with. We see four figures of nudes, two women and two men. Then we see four depictions of contemporary individuals doing what appears to our eyes to be manual labor. The "four" figures may have something to do with the seasons, but I don't know. However, I question what we are seeing is a depiction of average individuals doing everyday things. I think in each case they are meant to be allegorical figures from Greek and Roman mythology. The artist may have taken his images from everyday occurrences, and this interests me a great deal, because it is what connects my interpretation up. I think in each case the contemporary individuals are meant to show an historical or mythological figure doing some significant "act" out of a story and not a workman doing an everyday thing.
To concentrate on our "soldier" as I will call him, we see him dressed in a greenish tunic with clavii. He also wears a cloak in the fashion of a soldier as on various grave steles. He is carrying two baskets by means of a pole over his shoulders. I do not know how to interpret the significance of this. Perhaps they are meant to show a balancing task, or, justice, but they are not just baskets of stuff as we would think with our modern minds. Nearby, is a boar.The boar is much out of scale to him, so I don't think it is meant to show him herding a pig. The boar, as I understand it, in Roman symbology, means strength or virility or cunning. It was used as a symbol for the Legions. I am not sure what Legion was in Tunisia, or what its symbol was. The boar appears to precede him: Either running from him or perhaps leading the way? In any event, it looks as if the boar has his eyes turned on the soldier.
To me, our soldier is meant to show a figure from a Roman story. The fact that his appearance is contemporary in nature is what helps us, because the artist lifted a contemporary figure, dressed in a contemporary way to show a figure from a Roman story. I do not believe he would use a contemporary figure of low status to depict an important character in a Roman story. A god or an important character would be well dressed. The man is well proportioned, in his prime as soldiers are usually shown. He is dressed well, showing a person of status. The fashion of wearing both the tunic and the sagum are military like in nature. The over sized boar suggests a military connection, not an agrarian connection.
To tell his story, the artist lifts a figure out of everyday life who is strong, well dressed in a military fashion with a military symbol nearby. I think the artist used a soldier to show his story. If we knew more about the story the artist wished to tell, it would help, but I don't.
John
"In war as in loving, you must always keep shoving." George S. Patton, Jr.
