Mosaic emblem

Late antique, 6th century CE, made of marble, limestone, glass and brick, from the Late-antique peristyle houses in the Harbour Gymnasium of Ephesus

This exceptional central emblem depicting a cupid driving a chariot (biga) drawn by dolphins across the sea is a rare example of a late-antique mosaic from Ephesus. In addition to local stones, the artist used tesserae made of brick and glass. The emblem originally functioned as the centre of a large floor mosaic that decorated the main public room of a private house in the late-antique metropolis. The 5th and 6th centuries CE were the glory years of these houses erected in the palaestra of the former Harbour Gymnasium at Ephesus, but they were destroyed and abandoned in the early 7th century.

Image used in

• Ephesos-Museum