Fragment of a Floor Mosaic with a Personification of Ktisis
Unknown Artist
500–550, with modern restoration
Medium
Marble and glass
Dimensions
59 1/2 x 78 5/8 x 1 in. (151.1 x 199.7 x 2.5 cm)
Classification
Mosaics
Culture
Byzantine
Department
Medieval Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund and Fletcher Fund, 1998; Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift, Dodge Fund, and Rogers Fund, 1999
Accession Number
1998.69; 1999.99
Tags
Art Historical Context
This stunning fragment of a Byzantine floor mosaic, dating to around 500–550 CE with modern restoration, captures the Personification of Ktisis—a classical figure symbolizing the foundation or building of structures. Crafted from vibrant marble and glass tessera, the 59½ × 78⅝-inch panel likely adorned a wealthy villa or church floor in the Eastern Mediterranean, where such mosaics celebrated patrons and divine abundance. Ktisis, often depicted as a graceful woman holding a cornucopia (a horn of plenty), embodies prosperity and architectural patronage, flanked here by male figures that may rep...