The Mosaic of the House of the Dragon (Mosaico della Casa del Drago) image provided by Pedar Foss. “Mosaico Della Casa Del Drago.” https://www.beniculturali.it/luogo/museo-e-parco-archeologico-dell-antica-kaulon, media.beniculturali.it/mibac/files/boards/388a5474724a15af0ace7a40ab3301de/Calabria/292.jpg.
The Mosaic of the House of the Dragon (Mosaico della Casa del Drago), discovered during the 1998 archeological excavation of the ancient site of Kaulonía (see also: Caulonia, Caulon, now known as Southern Calabria, Magna Graecia, Italy) is a polychrome floor mosaic of a sea dragon. It was located near the entrance to a dining hall within the House of the Dragon (Casa del Drago), to which it gave its name. The House of the Dragon is dated to have been developed during the Hellenistic Era, and the mosaic itself is dated specifically to the 3rd century BCE. The 1.9m x 0.9m mosaic is composed of numerous types of tesserae, including stone, glass, and pottery fragments. While very little information is known about the history of the mosaic, new discoveries will be made, as it is under a restoration project at the Archaeological Museum of Monasterace.
Reproduction of the Mosaic of the House of the Dragon (Mosaico della Casa del Drago), photo provided by Sydney West.
The Mosaic of the House of the Dragon reproduction is a smaller scale replica completed in the spring of 2023 by Sydney West, Sam Prendergast, and Graysen Collins. It was created with multiple layers of concrete, bonding glue, and tesserae and placed into a frame to hang as a wall mosaic instead of a floor mosaic. We decided to make the replica a wall mosaic due to the practicality of the project and due to the size of the model we chose, which is 0.8382m x 0.41275m. This mosaic project was completed in under sixteen weeks to increase our understanding and appreciation of ancient art practices.
Sources Cited:
Cabello Briones, C., Mayorga Pinilla, S., Vázquez Moliní, D. et al. 2021. Colorimetry to assess the visual impact of dust deposition on mosaics at sheltered archaeological sites. Herit Sci 9, 40. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-021-00509-0. Matteo Randi, April 10, 2013.
“Making Ancient and Byzantine Mosaics” Chicago Institute of Art, 2:37. https://www.artic.edu/videos/10/launchpad-making-ancient-and-byzantine-mosaics
Miriello, D., De Luca, R., Bloise, A. et al. 2017. “Compositional study of mortars and pigments from the ‘Mosaico della Sala dei Draghi e dei Delfini’ in the archaeological site of Kaulonía (Southern Calabria, Magna Graecia, Italy),” Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 9, 317–336. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-015-0285-9.
Rasmussen, K. L., Delbey, T., Jørgensen, B., et al. (2022). Materials and technology of mosaics from the house of charidemos at Halikarnassos (Bodrum, Turkey). Heritage Science, 10, 62. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-022-00697-3.
Sposito, Francesca, Casa del Drago, ambiente A, soglia musiva con drago e pavimento in cementizio e tessellato, in TESS – scheda 17697 http://tess.beniculturali.unipd.it/web/scheda/?recid=17697, 2015.
The Mosaic of the House of the Dragon (Mosaico della Casa del Drago) image provided by Pedar Foss. “Mosaico Della Casa Del Drago.” https://www.beniculturali.it/luogo/museo-e-parco-archeologico-dell-antica-kaulon, media.beniculturali.it/mibac/files/boards/388a5474724a
15af0ace7a40ab3301de/Calabria/292.jpg.
Tošović, B. L., Franković, M., Santner, M., Alonso, J. A.. 2017. “Lifted Mosaics: Analysis of Stability and Supports”. In International Committee for the Conservation of Mosaics Conference, The Conservation and Presentation of Mosaics: At What Cost? : Proceedings of the 12th Conference of the International Committee for the Conservation of Mosaics, Sardinia, October 27–31, 2014. Edited by Jeanne Marie Teutonico, Leslie Friedman, Aïcha Ben Abed, and Roberto Nardi. Los Angeles, California, United States of America: Getty Conservation Institute, 406-407. The Getty Conservation Institute. https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Conservation_and_Presentation_of_Mos/P44wDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PP1&printsec=frontcover.
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