The extraordinary Alexander Mosaic, a prized artifact rescued from the ruins of Pompeii, has an origin story that is almost as interesting as the story of the legendary man it portrays. Just as Alexander the Great’s Macedonian Empire extended from the Balkans region to modern-day Pakistan, the Alexander mosaic was comprised of an astonishing two million pieces mined from quarries all across Europe, ranging from the Italian Peninsula in the east to the Iberian Peninsula in the west. Some of the pieces even came from as far away as Tunisia, showing just how much time, effort, and money its Roman owner was willing to spend to produce a masterpiece.
Until now, the truth about the broad geographical origin of the tiles of the mosaic was suspected, but not known for sure. But in a new study just published in the journal PLOS One, all the facts about the sources of the pieces that comprise this ancient masterpiece have finally been revealed.
What Was the Alexander Mosaic?
The Alexander Mosaic was made and installed sometime in the floor of its host’s home near the end of the second century BC. It was the property of an elite family who resided in Pompeii, the doomed Roman city that remained a popular destination for aristocrats from across the Roman Empire until its was buried under lava and rubble following the powerful eruption of Mount Vesuvius in the year 79.
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The mosaic was uncovered during excavations in Pompeii in 1831, inside an elite residence known as the House of the Faun (the faun is a creature from Roman mythology), and is currently on display at the National Archaeological Museum of Naples (where it has been for decades).
The entrance to the House of the Faun, with a mosaic on the floor. (Mary Harrsch/CC BY-SA 4.0).
The mosaic is huge, nearly 12 feet by 17 feet (2.7 meters by 5 meters), and when fully intact (some pieces are missing) did indeed include as many as two milion separate tiles. It is a striking and colorful work of art, portraying a battle that took place between the Macedonian army under the direction of Alexander the Great and the forces of the Persian leader Darius III, sometime between 336 and 323 BC.
There is one lone tree in the background of the battle scenes, and that has led many to conclude that the mosaic is supposed to represent the Battle of Issus, which took place in 333 BC near the modern Turkish-Syrian border. Several medieval and Arab texts have sections devoted to this confrontation, and they note that locals referred to it as the "battle of the dry tree" (or "the solitary tree").
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One thing the Alexander mosaic is not is entirely original: scholars believe it is a copy of a Hellenistic painting from the late fourth or early third century BC, created when the memories of Alexander’s triumphs were still fresh in people’s minds.
The Roman World’s Premier Mosaic
In their PLOS One article, the large team of Italian researchers involved in the new study refer to the object of their fascination as "the most important mosaic of the Roman age.” This explains their motivation to study the mosaic more in-depth, using (among other technologies) a portable X-ray fluorescence machine that helps identify specific elements within a larger object.
This work was part of a restoration project launched by the National Archaeological Museum of Naples in 2020. According to the findings of the team, the "tesserae [tiles used to make the mosaic] were composed of ten types of colors masterfully combined to enhance artistic effects characterizing the Alexander Mosaic.”
These colors included shades of white, brown, red, yellow, pink, green, gray, blue, black and vitreous (glassy), which featured a diverse menu of micro-textures that were "masterfully combined to enhance artistic effects of the artworks."
Much effort was made to ensure Alexander the Great’s face was as realistic as possible, the researchers wrote. It was "composed of several shades of pink tesserae with appreciable changes in luminescence effects likely related to different chemical composition of the tesserae," exhibiting an attention to detail that made the mosaic "perhaps the most iconic and well-known representation of his face in ancient art.”
The researchers were also able to learn more about the sources of the materials used to make the mosaic tiles. They found that the white tesserae were likely created from marble quarried in the Apuan Alps of Italy, which was a source of high-quality marble in the ancient world from the first century BC through the third century AD.
The ruins of the House of the Faun, with a small statue of a faun on display in the foreground. (Gary Todd/CC BY-SA 4.0).
Looking at the chemical composition of the other colored tesserae, the researchers found that the pink ones likely come from Portugal, the yellow tiles from the Roman city of Simitthus in what is now Tunisia, and the dark red tiles from Cape Matapan, Greece.
In addition to this information, the researchers were surprised to discover that the tiles had been painted over with a protective layer of natural wax and mineral gypsum. However, they concluded these materials had been used during another restoration project that must have occurred earlier in the modern era, preceding the transfer of the mosaic to the museum in Naples.
Reflecting on the Glory of Alexander the Great
Nothing that was discovered during this new high-tech examination was considered shocking or even surprising, as researchers had long suspected the mosaic was comprised of only the best and most attractive tiles that money could buy. The results of the study do prove that the Alexander mosaic was a spectacular work of art in its day that was designed to make a big impression on its viewers, functioning as a prestige possession for an elite owner who wanted to be associated with one of the most acclaimed and celebrated figures in antiquity.
Top image: The Alexander Mosaic, currently on display at the National Archaeological Museum of Naples.
Source: Public Domain.
By Nathan Falde
