Section of a Marble Mosaic from a Bathhouse Floor in Antioch in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, April 2011

Section of a Marble Mosaic Bathhouse Floor

Date: 537/538

Culture: Byzantine

Medium: Marble, mosaic

Dimensions: Overall: 108 x 104in. (274.3 x 264.2cm)

Classification: Mosaics

Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1940

Accession Number: 40.185

Description:

This elegantly simple floral carpet belonged to a floor identified by a Greek inscription as part of the restoration in 537/38 of a public bath, probably occasioned by the great earthquake of 526. Antioch was a major administrative, commercial, and military center for the Empire, as well as a leading administrative center for the Christian church.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/1700...