From a room in a Roman villa, located at Psila Alonia Square in Patras. The marble threshold to the room has also been preserved and can be seen on one of the long sides.
The goddess Aphrodite is depicted in the centre of the mosaic floor. She is holding a mirror decorated with the head of Medusa on the outside, which she has taken from an open box on a table. A pair of doves—a symbol of love and fidelity—is depicted on a parapet above the table. At the feet of the goddess, a cupid is bending over to serve her. Behind her, a curtain attached to a pillar can be seen blowing in the breeze.
The whole scene is surrounded by a wavy band with a chain of lozenges along its two long sides. Geometrical patterns of overlapping circles above and below, as well as symmetrically placed squares, complete the decoration. The whole floor is surrounded by a guilloche pattern.
Aphrodite's naked body was covered with a dress, after new work was carried out on the mosaic during early Christian times.
From a room in a Roman villa, located at Psila Alonia Square in Patras. The marble threshold to the room has also been preserved and can be seen on one of the long sides.
The goddess Aphrodite is depicted in the centre of the mosaic floor. She is holding a mirror decorated with the head of Medusa on the outside, which she has taken from an open box on a table. A pair of doves—a symbol of love and fidelity—is depicted on a parapet above the table. At the feet of the goddess, a cupid is bending over to serve her. Behind her, a curtain attached to a pillar can be seen blowing in the breeze.
The whole scene is surrounded by a wavy band with a chain of lozenges along its two long sides. Geometrical patterns of overlapping circles above and below, as well as symmetrically placed squares, complete the decoration. The whole floor is surrounded by a guilloche pattern.
Aphrodite's naked body was covered with a dress, after new work was carried out on the mosaic during early Christian times.
The tablinum contains part of a mural painting composed of a black square and a middle wall of red panels and borders decorated with swans, birds and plants.
In Roman architecture, a tablinum (or tabulinum, from tabula, board, picture) was a room generally situated on one side of the atrium and opposite to the entrance; it opened in the rear on to the peristyle, with either a large window or only an anteroom or curtain. The walls were richly decorated with fresco pictures, and busts of the family were arranged on pedestals on the two sides of the room.
The tablinum was the office in a Roman house, the father's centre for business, where he would receive his clients. It was originally the master bedroom, but later became the main office and reception room for the house master.
Of all finds than can be admired in the House of Fortuna and the murals and mosaics are among the most impressive. The pictorial panels stand out because of their wealth of colour and beauty. Among the mosaics we can find vestiges of numerous ornamental motifs, from rhomboids, stars and swastikas to symbolic motifs that represent elements from nature and mythology.