Great Lillebonne mosaic

The mosaic comes from a suburban villa in present-day Lillebonne, a town located at a “crossroads on the right bank of the Seine”. Juliobona is considered the main city of the Kalete people and is mentioned as such by Ptolemy, Geography, II, 8, 5. The site shows no traces of Gallic occupation, and appears to be an Augustan foundation dating back to the reorganization of Gaul between 16 and 13 BC. At that time, the city had an “orthogonal plan adapted to topographical constraints”. Claudius' conquest of Britannia seems to have had an impact on the development of the city, which reached its apogee between the end of the 1st and the end of the 1st century AD, a period of economic prosperity as in all the cities of Gaul. The city suffered the after-effects of the 197 power struggle between Clodius Albinus, governor of Brittany, and Septimius Severus, governor of the Danubian provinces, and underwent major restoration work. The city's port gradually silted up, and Rouen overtook it economically. “The second century was thus one of slow decline for Lillebonne, accelerated by the crisis and by Saxon plundering (to which the estuary was exposed)”, with excavations showing traces of fires and the prevailing insecurity. the site showed little sign of revival. In the 5th century, Lillebonne shrank around a castrum built by destroying public and funerary monuments, in particular around the theater: == Rediscovery and peregrinations ==

Rediscovered and first interpreted by Abbé Cochet (1870-1879) The mosaic was rediscovered at an estimated depth of between 50 and 60 cm from the ground on March 8, 1870, in the Saint-Denis district, on land owned by the mayor of Lillebonne, Doctor Pigné. The mosaic was discovered by a workman commissioned by the cafe owner who rented the land to transform his courtyard into a garden. The work was discovered “isolated from any modern construction” and carefully cleared, with “intelligent slowness”. The discovery was reported in the newspapers, even though the work had not yet been uncovered, leading to “partial descriptions and often contradictory interpretations, stemming from the inevitable trial and error of their authors, who were in a hurry to be the first to arrive ”. produced a watercolor reproduction. As a result of the discovery of terracotta statuettes for religious purposes during the excavation of the mosaic, Abbé Cochet indicated in 1870 that “the building, of which we have the paving, was a temple dedicated to Diana and Apollo”. However, this was an abusive interpretation, reflecting a “method of architectural identification based simply on iconographic considerations” according to Harmand, the 20th-century excavator of the site. The original edifice is thought to have been destroyed by fire, as Abbé Cochet notes that “over the entire mosaic was a black, charcoal layer several centimeters thick ‘, The site was covered with fragments of tile, and roofing nails were also discovered. and sold for the first time in August 1879 to Mme Merle for 20,000 or 23,500 francs, after unsuccessful bids by the Seine-Inférieure department, supported in particular by Abbé Cochet assisted by three Italians and two Frenchmen (an engineer and an architect). The mosaic left its city of origin in various crates on July 1, 1880. It was sent in 60 fragments to Russia, perhaps to be sold there, but apparently in vain, as no business was concluded during this journey, with initial purchase and restoration costs of around 30,000 francs. Exhibition at the Musée des Antiquités de Rouen (since 1886) After being restored once again, it joined the collections of the Musée des Antiquités de Rouen in 1886), in a room specially designed for it, “worthy of housing the mosaic”. The current presentation at the Musée des Antiquités de Rouen features a connection with a geometric decoration that is not the original one, but is the result of a restoration in 1886 Certain restorations and modern additions are also highly suspect, in particular the heads of the figures, which certainly look modern and thus prove that original elements were dispersed during the work's peregrinations. Excavations and a new interpretation by Harmand The villa from which the mosaic originates was excavated by Louis Harmand in October 1964, April and October 1965. The excavator's work was hampered by modern constructions, and investigations were limited, in particular due to the destruction of archaeological layers. Harmand confirmed that the building had no religious purpose and was not a fanum but a villa; however, this excavation did not include a systematic survey of the building plan The villa had a front gallery (similar to the villa with the large peristyle at Vieux-la-Romaine) and a corner tower. According to Michel de Boüard, the villa's plan was of a widespread and stereotyped type, “a large rectangle 15 to 20 m long by 8 to 10 m deep, with variable internal partitioning”; a large room has corridors opening onto the façade, which is equipped with a portico. Harmand identifies the excavated building with a well-known model such as the villa at Maulévrier or Lébisey in Hérouville-Saint-Clair. According to Harmand, the villa measured 18 m from north to south. The building was heated not by the floor but by terracotta elements installed in the partitions, and great care was taken to avoid heat loss. Excavations in 1964 revealed tegulæ mammatæ and tubuli In the adjoining room, however, the floor was covered with a crude pavement, using “the most elementary coating processes”, with “flat stone elements and tile splinters juxtaposed”. The triclinium also featured painted and marble decorations, fragments of which were found during the first excavations. The walls were very flat, only “a few centimetres ” high and around 60 cm thick. == Description ==

The mosaic was found with a number of gaps, identifiable by a photograph taken in 1870. Although heavily altered, the mosaic is well preserved and depicts deer bellowing in a “remarkable thematic unity”, decked out in the colors of autumn, with tesserae ranging from yellow to red. The mosaic was present in the triclinium, the villa's dining room, in a classic T and U configuration. According to Abbé Cochet, The tesserae used to represent the goddess are coloured to evoke bronze. the forest suggested by the vegetation between the various figures. On the left is a stag held by a man with a bridle. The rider furthest to the right is riding a horse and holding a whip, while the second is about to mount53. Ride The so-called “chasse à courre” scene depicts three horsemen, accompanied by their dogs, riding towards the area where the bow-wielding master is stationed. This is undoubtedly “the noisy ride of the beaters ”. This is emphasized by the way in which the riders and their mounts are depicted (the last of which is represented only by its forequarters) and the dogs, the first of which is leaping and depicted as a very large animal58,57. This second stag serves as bait and “appears agitated and feverish”, “animated by a movement difficult to contain ”,), positioned behind the domesticated stag, is about to release an arrow in the direction of the wild stag, although the style of the mosaic is Roman. According to Yvart, the hunting season could only have taken place during the deer's short rut in early autumn. Representations of such scenes are rare, but Yvart mentions an arkose bas-relief preserved in the Musée Crozatier in Le Puy-en-Velay, symbolizing victory, and cups in each corner, The mythological motif features an almost-naked woman surrounded by a veil suspended above her and enveloping her thighs, with an urn in her right hand and her left arm extended as well as her hand towards a male figure, “as if in a gesture of imploration”, also wrapped in a cloth and whose left hand held an ill-identified object, scepter or thyrse. ’the theme of the hunt metaphorically illustrating that of the pursuit of love”. Second line: (e)t Amor c(ivis) K(aletorum)/ discipulus: et Amor, citoyen de la cité des Calètes, son élève. Some believe it can also be expanded to c(ivis) K(arthaginiensis) (Carthage). Michel de Boüard considers the work “the most splendid mosaic (...) [as] probably due to the collaboration of an artist from Pozzuoli and a Caleta, his pupil and apprentice”. The meaning continues to raise questions, all the more so as the disciple, also a Roman citizen, should have been named with his tria nomina. Perhaps this inscription makes sense in view of the theme of the pursuit of love. The inscription may have been damaged “when it was removed ”. == Difficulties and interpretation ==

Difficult interpretation of a heavily reworked work Many gaps in discovery At the time of its discovery, the mosaic had gaps in the central medallion and in the details of certain trapezoids, as attested by documents dating from the time of discovery, the most valuable of which is a retouched photograph. “The corresponding parts of the mosaic in its current state are therefore modern”, according to Darmon. or even clumsiness - such as that of the rider in the side panel of horses and hounds. The central panel was extensively reworked, as there were significant gaps, but the restoration work was carried out with care, as “the most scrupulous examination (...) does not reveal their exact limits”. Yvart considers that the mosaic undoubtedly dates from the heyday of the city of Lillebonne. == See also ==