Soul Mosaic

The mosaic photograph used in this blog’s header was taken by the author at the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, NC. It is a close-up of the border section of a Roman floor mosaic on display there.

The photograph was taken with a Canon EOS 30D digital camera and a Canon Ultrasonic Macro Lens EF, 100mm, using Aperture Priority Mode, ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/15 sec – handheld/no flash, manual white balance 4300K.

Other photographs and close-ups of the mosaic taken by the author are shown below.

The museum’s website provides some information on the piece. It dates to about the 2nd century and is made of colored stones and green glass tiles arranged in geometric and floral patterns. The mosaic’s large size (98 1/2 x 98 1/2 in. / 250.3 x 250.3 cm) suggests it could have been in a house’s atrium and possibly covered a cistern where rainwater was collected. Since an atrium is a colonnaded court partially open to the air, rainwater would have fallen onto the mosaic floor before dropping into the cistern. Water flowing over the floor would have made the stones and glass pieces sparkle. The museum’s website contains a photograph of the entire mosaic along with a description:

http://www.ncartmuseum.org/collections/highlights/ancient/classical/roman_lrg.shtm

All photos taken by the author