Date: 2nd - 3rd Century A.D.
Condition: Mounted on a light cement board, intact, with some minor restoration.
Provenance: EX: European provate collection; EX: New York art market; Ex: Prominent U.S. East Coast private collection.
Measurements: 71 inches high, (181 cms), X 71.5 inches wide, (182 cms).
The Greek myth of Ariadne offers hope to all who have felt the sting of love rejected. It tells of triumph after defeat, of sweetest success after the harshest sorrow. According to the myth, Ariadne was the daughter of king Minos of Crete. She helped Theseus slay her monstrous half-brother, known as the Minotaur, by teaching him to use a golden thread as a path within the labyrinth where the Minotaur lived. Theseus killed the monster then followed the golden thread to freedom, he then claimed Ariadne for his own. They escaped from Crete upon a waiting ship, running from crowds of citizens angered by Theseus’s murder of their half-bull/half-human prince. As they sailed the world, Ariadne was certain she had won the heart of the hero in return for her brilliance, her loyalty, and her love. After all, she had betrayed those closest to her to save Theseus. When Theseus finally brought their ship to the faraway island of Naxos, Ariadne thought they would live there forever in bliss. Instead, he abandoned her upon the island, sailing off without an apology. Such was her thanks for saving him. Ariadne was heart broken, as she felt she was the foolish than the beloved of Theseus, as she thought of killing herself out of shame and sorrow. But the Muses took pity upon her. They hovered around her as soft as winds, and whispered into her ear of a worthier love and a loftier fate. This made no sense to her, for she could not see beyond her abandonment by Theseus. Then a bronze chariot appeared on the horizon. The muzes whispered it held a new bridegroom for Ariadne. As the chariot drew closer, Ariadne saw it was draped with vines and grape clusters and was driven by Dionysos, the God of divine intoxication, who loved Ariadne for her bravery and loyalty. Her heart was immediatley healed by Dionysos's admiration and loving embrace. Dionysos and Ariadne were then wed, and she lived forever with her immortal husband in ecstatic triumph.
This important and exceptional mosaic, commemorating the love story of Dionysos, (Bacchus), and Ariadane.
Featuring Dionysos seated with Eros, (Cupid), standing below, and Ariadne standing to his left, she is holding a grape cluster.