Mosaic Fragment with Grazing Camel
5th century
Medium
Stone in mortar
Dimensions
143 × 166.5 × 6.5 cm (56 1/4 × 61 1/2 × 2 1/2 in.)
Classification
architectural fragment
Department
Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
35355
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
This image of a grazing camel probably came from a larger composition with other animals that decorated the floor of a semipublic space within a private home, such as a reception or dining room. This animal is represented against a white ground decorated with florets. A bell hangs from the camel’s neck as it reaches toward an object, perhaps a vessel filled with water, at the lower right. The knobby contours of the camel’s body are accentuated by areas of shading in subtly modulated colors, incl...
About the Artist
Byzantine
"Byzantine" is the collective attribution given to anonymous artists working within the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, whose creations spanned from the 4th to the 15th centuries, primarily in Constantinople and its cultural sphere. These masters produced a vast body of art that defined an era, with museums like the Walters Art Museum and the Art Institute of Chicago cataloging numerous works un...