SUBJECT

SUBJECT

Identification

Roman villa of Simonov zaliv / San Simone, Izola / Isola (Slovenia), geometric black and white floor mosaic decoration

Iconographic description

The mosaic shows white-roza-gray obliquely set tesserae with a simple framing band of black and white tesserae set in straight rows (three courses of black bordered by two rows of white tesserae). The decorative solution consisting of a monochrome mosaic carpet bordered by a single stripe, is widely diffused, finding use in rooms of poor functional significance as well as in representative contexts (RINALDI F. 2007, Mosaici e pavimenti del Veneto. Province di Padova, Rovigo, Verona e Vicenza (I sec.a.C. – VI sec. d.C.). Antenor Quaderni 7. Roma, p. 71). The use of the single bordering band is typical of the period of the late republican period, presenting at this stage a more irregular texture; in the age of Caesar and Augustus the double bordering band begins to replace the single, remaining in use until to the fourth century AD (MORRICONE MATINI M. L. 1973, s.v. Mosaico. – Enciclopedia dell’arte antica classica e orientale. Supplemento. Roma, p. 504). In the transition period between the late republican and early imperial era both types of bordering band appear indistinctly, also within the same contexts (RINALDI 2007, 70) – that is also the case of the Roman villa of Simonov zaliv / San Simone where both decorative solutions are adopted.