An ancient method of hunting tigers around a sphere of glass or mirror trap. Late Roman mosaic in the Corridor of the Great Hunt, Villa Romana del Casale, Piazza Armerina, Sicily, Italy. The mosaic depicts a female tiger gazing at miniature reflection of herself in a glass ball or pool of water. According to one interpretation, the tigress is momentarily deceived into thinking she has found one of her stolen cubs.
Piazza Armerina, Enna Province, Sicily, Italy: detail of mosaic in Villa Romana del Casale, built in the early 300s CE and one of the grandest examples of a Late Roman villa. The mosaic in this image is in the Corridor of the Great Hunt. It depicts a tigress gazing at a miniature reflection of herself in a glass ball or pool of water and possibly illustrates an ancient method of hunting tigers around a sphere of glass or mirror trap. According to one interpretation, the tigress is momentarily deceived into thinking she has found one of her stolen cubs. The Corridor of the Great Hunt is a long hall covered with mosaics which illustrate the hunting, capture, caging and transport of animals destined for ‘venationes’ or beast spectacles - the killing of wild animals for entertainment. These mosaics were probably created by African mosaicists. The Villa Romana del Casale was inhabited for at least 150 years after it was built in the early 300s, but was badly damaged by the Vandals in the late 400s, then completely abandoned after a mudslide in the 1100s. In the 1950s the villa’s archaeological treasures were unearthed. Today, it is accepted that the villa was the property of a high-level senatorial aristocrat, although some have suggested an Emperor as owner. The Villa Romana del Casale is now protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Size: 4256px × 2832px
Location: Villa Romana del Casale, Piazza Armerina, Enna Province, Sicily, Italy
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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