Mosaic with Gazelles at a Kantharos
Unknown · c. 500-525 AD
Two gazelles face each other across a tall drinking cup, a kantharos, from which poppies grow. Small trees frame the pair, and heart-shaped leaves are scattered in the field. The mosaic is more than two metres wide and completely intact, its limestone cubes laid in soft browns, reds and greens on a pale ground. Stand back to see how the symmetry works: the two animals mirror each other exactly, and the vase in the centre becomes the axis of the whole panel.
The motif of animals flanking a vase goes back to pagan decoration, but in the churches and houses of Syria in the early sixth century it took on a Christian meaning, the cup recalling the Eucharist and the animals the faithful who drink from it. The panel was made in Syria in the first quarter of the sixth century and was bought by the Louvre in 1971 together with the hunting mosaic displayed nearby. It was cleaned and restored in 2011 when the museum reinstalled its collection of eastern Mediterranean mosaics.
Did You Know? The panel is entirely intact, a rarity for a floor mosaic that was walked on for centuries before being lifted.
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