For #MosaicMonday, one of my favorite works is this unique depiction of #Cupid as #Winter, from the #Chedworth Villa in Britain.
It shows an impish looking Cupid, bundled up in a #Celtic hooded garment called the "#birrus". His cloak flies behind Him in place of wings, as He darts off to some unknown mischief.
Also note the Late Roman mosaic patterns here that would later develop into Medieval "Celtic #knotwork".
Part of what draws me so much to this mosaic is its rare depiction of Celtic clothing and the way Cupid got integrated into the local culture.
People often conceptualize a hard break between #polytheist #Antiquity and Christian #Medieval times, and between "#Roman" and "#Celtic" cultures. But this art from Sub-Roman Britain (4th to 5th C.) challenges that dichotomy, showing a fascinating transition between the two, and a fusion of cultures and styles that would foreshadow Medieval Insular art.
I wanted to take a stab at #PixelArt, and I thought, "what is a mosaic, but art made of physical 'pixels,'" so I did my best to recreate the #Chedworth Winter #Cupid!
I learned pretty quickly there are actually a lot of differences between #mosaic and #pixel art (lol), and I'm sure this could be improved on in a lot of ways, but it was a fun project anyways:
I must confess, I look at the image of Romano/Celtic Cupid as Winter and the first thing that goes through my imaginations is "Does Romano/Celtic Cupid beat the hell out of people with the tree-limb of love?!:
Mind you the whole discussion of the iconography and art of the Late Roman to Early Medieval period is a fascinating one, I remember my folks had a fascinating (if likely very dated these days) set of Time/Life books on history or historical eras and the Byzantine and Dark Ages books had some amazing photographs and images....
@PaxGeoffrey @morpheusravenna I probably should have mentioned, this is from the dining room in the villa, and each of the four corners shows Cupid representing a different season.
"The four seasons personified" was a common motif in Roman mosaics (although not usually depicted as the Erotes / Cupid like this).
The dead branch was always the emblem of Winter in Roman mosaics, kind of like how we typically symbolize Winter today with something like holly or pine.
I rather love this sort of information! I will also admit to a sometimes niche and rather warped sense of humor...
The dead branch as an emblem of Winter makes sense, although from a mythopoetic frame of mind I find myself wondering why not the Pomegranate
What sort of emblems did they use for the other three seasons?
@PaxGeoffrey All three of the other Cupidines are carrying baskets in Their left hand.
Spring seems to have a swallow in His right hand.
Summer has a garland of flowers.
Unfortunately, Fall is too damaged to know what He is carrying.
All three of the others are nude, except that Spring and Fall have a sash that crosses over Their midriff.
You can see some photos of Winter, Spring, and Summer at Wikimedia here:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Ancient_Roman_mosaics_in_Chedworth_Roman_Villa
@PaxGeoffrey @morpheusravenna I also forgot to credit the photo in my first post. It's from the UK National Trust:
Donnodubus
Morpheus Ravenna
Chrysalis 1 Witch's Journey