Piazza Armerina Sacrifice Scene

[Nathan Ross]

Part of the 'great hunt' mosaic from the villa of Piazza Armerina shows a pair of hunters making a sacrifice of what looks like incense at a shrine or sanctuary of Diana, apparently in a grove of trees.

[attachment=10337]PArm.jpg[/attachment]

There are a few odd things about this image -

Why are the men's tunics unbelted? (there's another man similarly dressed to the right - whole image - so it isn't directly connected to the sacrifice, it seems...)

What are those curled strips attached to the hooves of the horses? (shadows, maybe?)

What is the man on the right doing? He appears to be scratching his cheek... But since he's looking at the goddess, might this gesture be a form of salute? It slightly resembles other gestures interpreted as 'salutes' in a military context, with the hand raised to (more usually) the forehead.

Any ideas?

[richsc]

Uncertain about the rest, but I think those are supposed to be shadows of the horses' hooves. Romans have strange ones: QV the Cave Canem mosaic in Pompeii.

[Vindex]

I agree about the shadows and the man on the right appears to be in the same pose as the statuette of Diana - perhaps that is significant in some way?

No idea why they would have unbelted tunics, unless they have left their weapons to one side to attend to the religious rite?

[Longovicium]

The shadows on the hooves have already been commented upon - the unbelted figures are perhaps symbolising repose or 'undress' after the Hunt - whereas the figure on the right seems to be tasting a morsel from the food offered up as a sacrifice to Diana. Is it incense being offered or is a morsel from the kill being offered and a portion eaten by the lead or main hunter (the figure on the right)?

The figure of Diana herself may be offering a clue here: her right hand is reaching back into her quiver for an arrow and the figure to her left (our right) is seen to be copying that gesture. Is the mosaic artist indicating that the right figure is the leader of the Hunt and the killer of the prize? His upraised hand both mimics the drawing of the arrow (that killed the animal) and also is drawing attention to his mouth (he 'wins' the first cut of the meat).

If you look at the composition of the entire scene, you will note that this figure is both a little isolated from all the others and is also 'framed' by the inward bending trees to our left and the sloped spear to our right. That and the fact that the nearest male figure to him is also smaller isolates him - compare the tight male figures on the other side of the statue of Diana. The Horses' heads only re-affirm this emphasis, I feel. The artist would seem to be isolating this figure to highlight his importance in some manner.

Again, I would tentatively suggest that he is the hunt leader and high status figure here.

[Nathan Ross]

is a morsel from the kill being offered and a portion eaten by the lead or main hunter... indicating that the right figure is the leader of the Hunt and the killer of the prize?

That's a neat reading, and I suspect you might be right. Yes, it does look like meat they're putting on the altar, now I look more closely. And I remember some of the stories of martyrs during the various anti-Christian persecutions refusing to eat the meat of sacrificial animals, so that was presumably also part of the ritual.

The shadows are just weird though - is the lack of any single light source deliberate?

I wondered if the unbelted tunics might have some military significance - remembering the story of Julian ordering cowardly soldiers to go on parade like that. But if the hunters are civilians perhaps the belts were not so important, and they're just supposed to be relaxing after their labours, as you say.

[MD]

For me these "shadows" look like trajectories added to visualize the movement of the hooves. Nothing else, neither the men nor the plants cast any shadows, so I think they are there to make the scene look more dynamic.

[Longovicium]

The unbelted figures are interesting, yes.

I don't know much about pagan worship and its rites when it comes to dress and symbolism - my instinct is that hunting was a much-vaunted 'military' exercise - manliness, prowess, and so on - so I suspect that being belted during the hunt would be a given. However, during the sacrifice/offering, after the hunt perhaps a certain undress is used to signify submission to the female huntress? If Diana as a female deity (known to use her anger to slay if provoked) is to be appeased then perhaps the hunters themselves must 'unman' themselves by unbelting in order to appease or win her approval.

Pure speculation but I like the symbolism here!

[PhilusEstilius]

I think if we look at the scene above we find the same type of shadows with both the men and the hounds, therefore I think this is an expression of movement.
Then also we find that some of the figures including attendants wear belts others don't, so we should not try to read too much into this thing about belts.

[attachment=10338]hunt.jpg[/attachment]

[Flavivs Aetivs]

It's clear the Horse is ice-skating.

Fascinating hypothesis, especially from you Francis. :wink: Really enjoying this.

[Caballo]

Could the tunics be unbelted because it depicts the scene early morning before the hunt as they give an offering to Diana for a good day's hunting? The horses hoof movements show that they are ready and impatient to be off. And the figure on the right puts his hand in the anchor position for his arrow, repeating Dianas pose? Visualisation and repeating the various sporting positions is a technique used by athletes today to prepare.

Great thread - thanks.

[PhilusEstilius]

I think that the two men that carry a wild boar and another with a dead bunny would indicate a post hunt scene, also the scene above does show these shadows to be movement of the men and the hounds so clearly this is an artistic way of showing some kind of action.

[PhilusEstilius]

Here is another scene from Piazza Armerina called the unload where the men and the large birds are being shipped in for sport, these also show the very same shadows around the feet and legs that very clearly show movement and action.
[attachment=10342]unload.jpg[/attachment]

[Urselius]

The man to the right of the altar is making the formal gesture of adoratio. "(When) Caecilius sees an image of Serapis," wrote Minucius Felix Octavius, "he, as the superstitious masses are accustomed to do, moves his hand to his lips, kissing it. (II.4)."

[Nathan Ross]

The horses hoof movements show that they are ready and impatient to be off.

That's a good way of explaining it. It's interesting, looking at other bits of the mosaic, to try and work out why some figures have 'movement shadows' and others don't... there's clearly a visual language here, but not one that we're familiar with (is anybody? I don't recall seeing them in other Roman artworks...)

Why do the 'shadows' curl up at the ends, I wonder? Here's one, from wikipedia, amusingly titled 'boy skiing': it does look a bit like that!

[attachment=10343]PArm2.jpg[/attachment]

Here is another scene... where the men and the large birds are being shipped in for sport

I'd never noticed how funny that scene looks - the man does seem to be manhandling the poor ostrich in a rather intimate fashion...

The man to the right of the altar is making the formal gesture of adoratio.

Yes, I initially thought it might be the 'blowing a kiss' thing. I've wondered before whether this gesture was common to all 'salutes' (even including military ones), besides those to divinities and quasi-divine emperors!

It's similar to the one shown on the famous anti-Christian graffito: 'Alexamenos worships (or 'salutes') his god':



So: eating sacrificial offerings - or saluting? Is there any way to tell? mile:

[Lyceum]

I posted something yesterday but it got swallowed/I messed up submitting so I'll quickly try again.

Composition is obviously late so 3rd/4th century A.D and western. Not mythological/literary but not quite literal either, figure of power might be the villa's owner or ancestor or patron.

It's not a religious rite. Not in the full on proper sense. Everything is wrong about that with regards to state of dress, body posture, absence of proper paraphernalia and personal. So it's everyday piety. So probably the beginning of a meal or something given the preparation of meat is involved. That's supported by them being unbelted, it's meant to convey a state of repose contra the earlier action - in this case a successful hunt. I wouldn't read too much into it.

You're familiar with word "princeps" - we gloss it to mean prince but it really has its origins in being the first chooser/taker/capturer: the best of the group who represents that group to the gods. I guess that's the guy in the wonderful ornate red robes. Your power figure.

Aside: Unlike Greece, the near east, central Asia, India etc hunting didn't actually form a large part of Roman elite behaviour. Roman generals like Scipio picking up the behaviour during their time abroad was considered odd in the republican era. They didn't have either the military training angle classical Greeks did nor the elite behaviour model shared by Hellenistic Macedonian monarchs and Persian satraps alike. It's a later behaviour that by the Byzantine period became pretty important as a sign of prowess. Not wholly relevant but I think it rather cool.