Patrick Costello
Triumphant Neptune
This major work is a second/third century AD mosaic from Chebba. It is on display in the Thugga (Dougga) Room, which was a small lounge adjacent to the reception room in the Palace of Sadok Bey.
In the centre, a victorious Neptune holds a trident, the symbol of his power, and a small dolphin. He is riding his chariot, pulled by four sea horses flanked by sea monsters. The four female characters in the corners represent the four seasons. Autumn is shown framed and crowned by vine branches, holding a thyrsus in one hand and a krater in the other. Summer is portrayed as a nude young woman crowned with ears of wheat, holding a scythe, a basket of wheat and a folded mantle. The nude young woman partially draped with her mantle represents Spring; she is crowned with roses and carrying a basket of roses and a single rose. Warmly clad Winter, her head crowned with reeds, holds a staff from which a pair of game birds hangs.
Triumphant Neptune
This major work is a second/third century AD mosaic from Chebba. It is on display in the Thugga (Dougga) Room, which was a small lounge adjacent to the reception room in the Palace of Sadok Bey.
In the centre, a victorious Neptune holds a trident, the symbol of his power, and a small dolphin. He is riding his chariot, pulled by four sea horses flanked by sea monsters. The four female characters in the corners represent the four seasons. Autumn is shown framed and crowned by vine branches, holding a thyrsus in one hand and a krater in the other. Summer is portrayed as a nude young woman crowned with ears of wheat, holding a scythe, a basket of wheat and a folded mantle. The nude young woman partially draped with her mantle represents Spring; she is crowned with roses and carrying a basket of roses and a single rose. Warmly clad Winter, her head crowned with reeds, holds a staff from which a pair of game birds hangs.