Floor Mosaic Fragment with Fish in a Roundel

Description With its counterpart (Walters 43.18), this fragment of a mosaic floor once decorated a Roman house. A bearded fish swims amidst wavy lines representing water. The diagonal layout of the background tesserae (marble cubes) indicates that these roundels were placed in the corners of a large floor composition.

Exhibitions

• Poseidon and the Sea: Myth, Cult, and Daily Life. Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha; Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa; Hood Museum of Art, Hanover. 2014-2015.

Provenance [Excavated at the arsenal in Sousse, Tunisia, 1896]; François Goiran, Sousse, Tunisia, 1896; Roger Goiran, Glocester, MA [date of acquisition unknown], by bequest; Walters Art Museum, 1974, by purchase.

Credit Museum purchase with funds provided by the S. & A.P. Fund, 1974