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Reflections on Music Performance and Dancing in a Roman Mosaic Found on the Aventine

Year 2021, Issue: 14, 217 - 231, 30.11.2021
https://doi.org/10.26658/jmr.1014555

Abstract

This paper focuses on a figurative scene with musicians and dancers in one of the mosaics found in the grounds of Santa Sabina garden on the Aventine, currently preserved in the Vatican Museums. This representation has been the object of different interpretations and chronological analysis within the context of mime or, more recently, that of a banquet.
This contribution delves into whether, judging by the analysis of the iconography and literary sources, these are images that respond to a stereotyped repertoire or they reflect customary practices of that time. Finally, we will also reflect upon to what extent the representation of the protagonists of the event is reliable.
To address these questions, it has been necessary to date the mosaic to the beginning of the third century AD, establishing this chronology by comparing the geometric pattern of the mosaic with another found nearby, while also considering the revealing testimonies of contemporary authors, such as Clement of Alexandria.

References

  • Alonso Fernández 2011 Z. Alonso, La danza en época romana: una aproximación filológica y lingüística, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid.
  • Alonso Fernández 2015 Z. Alonso, “Docta saltatrix: Body Knowledge, Culture, and Corporeal Discourse in Female Roman Dance”, Phoenix 69, 3/4, 304-333.
  • Alonso Venero 2013 A. M. Alonso Venero, El paganismo en la literatura apologética cristiana (ss. II-IV), Unpublished PhD Thesis, Universidad de Cantabria, Cantabria.
  • Ashby 1914 T. Ashby, “Drawings of Ancient Paintings in English Collections. Part I. The Eton Collecction”, PBSR VII, 1-62.
  • Bailey 1980 D. M. Bailey, A Catalogue of the Lamps of the British Museum 2, Roman Lamps Made in Italy, Londres.
  • Becatti 1961 G. Becatti, Scavi di Ostia IV, Mosaici e pavimenti marmorei, Roma.
  • Bélis 1988 A. Bélis, “KROUPEZA, scabellum”, BCH 102, 323-339.
  • Berthier 1910 J. Berthier, L‘Eglise de Sainte-Sabine a Rome, Roma.
  • Blake 1936 M. E. Blake, “Roman Mosaics of the Second Century in Italy”, MemAmAc 13, 67-214.
  • Blake 1940 M. E. Blake, “Mosaics of the Late Empire in Rome and Vicinity”, MemAmAc 17, 81-130.
  • Blanchard-Lemée et al. 1995 M. Blanchard-Lemée - G. Mermet - M. Ennaifer - H. Slim - L. Slim, Sols de l’Afrique romaine, Paris.
  • Blázquez et al. 1990 J. M. Blázquez - G. López Monteagudo - M. L. Neira Jimenez - M. P. San Nicolas Pedraz, “Pavimentos africanos con espectáculos de toros. Estudio comparativo a propósito del mosaico de Silin (Tripolitania)”, AntAfr 26, 155-204.
  • Castaldo 2014 D. Castaldo, “Presenze africane nella música di età romana”, A. Bellia (ed.), Musica, culti e riti nell’Occidente Greco, Pisa-Roma, 315-323.
  • Catalli 1992 F. Catalli, “L’area archeologica”, F. Catalli - M. Petrecca (eds.), Villa Pamphilj, Roma, 103-125.
  • Conde 1986 E. Conde, “La mujer ideal en el „Pedagogo” de Clemente Alejandrino”, Helmantica 37, 337-354.
  • Dasen 2013 V. Dasen, “Des artistas différents? Nains danseurs et musiciens dans le monde hellénistique et romain”, S. Emerit (dir.), Le statut du musicien dans la Méditerranée ancienne, Égypte, Mésopotamie, Grèce, Rome, El Cairo, 259-277.
  • Décor I C. Balmelle – M. Blanchard Lemée – J. Christophe – J.-P. Darmon – A.-M. Guimier Sorbets – H. Lavagne – R. Prudhomme – H. Stern, Le Décor géométrique de la mosaïque romaine I, Paris, 1985.
  • Dunbabin 2004 K. M. D. Dunbabin, “Problems in the Iconography of roman Mime”, C. Hugoniot - F. Hurlet - S. Milanezi (eds.), Le statut de l‘acteur dans l‘Antiquité grecque et romaine, Tours, 161-182.
  • Dunbabin 2016 K. M. D. Dunbabin, Theatre and Spectacle in Art of the Roman Empire, Ithaca-Londres.
  • Guidobaldi 1992 M. P. Guidobaldi, Musica e danza, Vita e costumi dei Romani antichi 13, Roma.
  • Jory 1970 E. Jory, “Associations of Actors in Rome”, Hermes 98, 224-253.
  • King 1997 R. J. King, “Dancers in the Columbarium of the villa Doria-Pamphili”, D. Scagliarini Corlà ita (ed.), I temi Figurativi nella Pittura Parietale Antica (IV sec. a.C.-IV sec. d.C.): Atti del VCI Convegno Internazionale sulla Pittura Parietale Antica, Imola, 77-80.
  • Kondoleon 1999 C. Kondoleon, “Timing Spectacles: Roman Domestic Art & Performances” B. A. Bergmann - C. Kondoleon (eds.) The Art of Ancient Spectacle, Washington, 320-341.
  • Lanciani 1895 R. Lanciani, “Le picturae antiquae cryptarum romanarum”, Bull. Comm. 23, 165-192.
  • Lembke 1994 K. Lembke, “Ein Relief aus Ariccia und seine Geschichte”, RM CI, 97-102.
  • Léveder Bernard - Calero 2015 G. Léveder Bernard - L. Calero , “Las Puellae gaditanae, una coreografía con acento propio”, Anas 27-28, 107-120.
  • Lindgren 2015 E. Lindgren, Sempronia’s Song, Attitudes to Women’s Music-making in Ancient Rome, Uppsala.
  • Muñoz 1914 A. Muñoz, “Indagini sulla chiesa di Santa Sabina sull’Aventino”, Studi Romani II, 329-342.
  • Muñoz 1919 A. Muñoz, La Basilica di Santa Sabina in Roma, Milán.
  • Muñoz 1924 A. Muñoz, L‘Eglise de Sainte Sabine a Rome, Rome.
  • Naerebout 2009 F. G. Naerebout, “Das Reich tanzt: dance in the Roman empire and its discontents”, O. Hekster - S. Schmidt-Hofner - C. Witschel (eds.), Ritual Dynamics and Religious Change in the Roman Empire, Leiden, 143-158.
  • Nash 1968 E. Nash, Pictorial Dictionary of Ancient Rorne II, London.
  • Neira 2011 L. Neira, “Sociedad e imagen en los mosaicos romanos. Desde la óptica interesada de las elites”, P. Fernandez Uriel - I. Rodriguez Lopez (eds.), Iconografia y sociedad en el Mediterráneo Antiguo, Salamanca, 387-410.
  • Nogara 1910 B. Nogara, I mosaici antichi conservati nei palazzi pontifici del Vaticano e del Laterano, Milán.
  • Péché 2002 V. Péché, “Tibicinae, fidicinae, citharistriae, psaltriae: femmes musiciennes de la comédie romaine”, RBelgPhilHist 80, 1, 133-157.
  • Perea 2004 S. Perea, “Extranjeras en Roma y en cualquier lugar: mujeres mimas y pantomimas, el teatro en la calle y en la fiesta de Flora”, Gerión Anejos 8, 11-43.
  • Puchner 1983 W. Puchner, “Byzantinischer Mimos, Pantomimos und Mummenschanz im Spiegel der griechischen Patristik und ekklestiastischer Synodalverordnungen”, Maske und Kothurn 29, 311-317.
  • Puchner 2002 W. Puchner, “Acting in Byzantine theatre: Evidence and problems”, P. Easterling - E. Hall (eds.), Greek and Roman Actors, Cambridge, 304-324.
  • Robotti 2005 C. Robotti, “I mosaici del Museo Campano di Capua”, CMGR IX, 1171-1173.
  • Vesterinen 2007 M. Vesterinen, Dancing and Profesional Dancers in Roman Egypt, Helsinki.
  • Wardle 1981 M. A. Wardle, Musical Instruments in the Roman World, Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of London, London.
  • Webb 2002 R. Webb, “Female Entertainers in Late Antiquity”, P. Easterling - E. Hall (eds.), Greek and Roman Actors, Cambridge, 282-303.
  • Williams 1999 C. A. Williams, Roman Homosexuality, Ideologies of Masculinity in Classical Antiquity, New York.
  • Wootton 2004 G. E. M. Wootton, “Representations of Musicians in the Roman

Aventine’de Bulunan Bir Roma Mozaiğinde Müzik Performansı ve Dans Üzerine Düşünceler

Year 2021, Issue: 14, 217 - 231, 30.11.2021
https://doi.org/10.26658/jmr.1014555

Abstract

Bu makale, Aventine’deki Santa Sabina bahçesinin arazisinde bulunan ve şu anda Vatikan Müzeleri’nde korunan mozaiklerden birinde betimlenen müzisyenler ve dansçıların olduğu figüratif bir sahneye odaklanmaktadır. Bu temsil, mim veya daha yakın zamanda bir ziyafet bağlamında farklı yorumların ve kronolojik analizlerin konusu olmuştur.
Bu katkı, ikonografi ve edebi kaynakların analizine göre, bunların kalıplaşmış bir repertuvara yanıt veren görüntüler mi, yoksa o zamanın geleneksel uygulamalarını mı yansıttığını araştırmaktadır. Son olarak, olayın kahramanlarının temsilinin ne kadar güvenilir olduğu üzerinde de durulacaktır.
Bu soruları ele almak için, mozaiğin geometrik desenini yakınlarda bulunan bir başka mozaik ile karşılaştırarak kronoloji oluşturulacak ve aynı zamanda İskenderiyeli Clement gibi çağdaşı yazarların açıklayıcı tanıklıklarını da göz önünde bulundurarak mozaiğin İS üçüncü yüzyılın başlarına tarihlendirilmesi gerekmektedir.

References

  • Alonso Fernández 2011 Z. Alonso, La danza en época romana: una aproximación filológica y lingüística, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid.
  • Alonso Fernández 2015 Z. Alonso, “Docta saltatrix: Body Knowledge, Culture, and Corporeal Discourse in Female Roman Dance”, Phoenix 69, 3/4, 304-333.
  • Alonso Venero 2013 A. M. Alonso Venero, El paganismo en la literatura apologética cristiana (ss. II-IV), Unpublished PhD Thesis, Universidad de Cantabria, Cantabria.
  • Ashby 1914 T. Ashby, “Drawings of Ancient Paintings in English Collections. Part I. The Eton Collecction”, PBSR VII, 1-62.
  • Bailey 1980 D. M. Bailey, A Catalogue of the Lamps of the British Museum 2, Roman Lamps Made in Italy, Londres.
  • Becatti 1961 G. Becatti, Scavi di Ostia IV, Mosaici e pavimenti marmorei, Roma.
  • Bélis 1988 A. Bélis, “KROUPEZA, scabellum”, BCH 102, 323-339.
  • Berthier 1910 J. Berthier, L‘Eglise de Sainte-Sabine a Rome, Roma.
  • Blake 1936 M. E. Blake, “Roman Mosaics of the Second Century in Italy”, MemAmAc 13, 67-214.
  • Blake 1940 M. E. Blake, “Mosaics of the Late Empire in Rome and Vicinity”, MemAmAc 17, 81-130.
  • Blanchard-Lemée et al. 1995 M. Blanchard-Lemée - G. Mermet - M. Ennaifer - H. Slim - L. Slim, Sols de l’Afrique romaine, Paris.
  • Blázquez et al. 1990 J. M. Blázquez - G. López Monteagudo - M. L. Neira Jimenez - M. P. San Nicolas Pedraz, “Pavimentos africanos con espectáculos de toros. Estudio comparativo a propósito del mosaico de Silin (Tripolitania)”, AntAfr 26, 155-204.
  • Castaldo 2014 D. Castaldo, “Presenze africane nella música di età romana”, A. Bellia (ed.), Musica, culti e riti nell’Occidente Greco, Pisa-Roma, 315-323.
  • Catalli 1992 F. Catalli, “L’area archeologica”, F. Catalli - M. Petrecca (eds.), Villa Pamphilj, Roma, 103-125.
  • Conde 1986 E. Conde, “La mujer ideal en el „Pedagogo” de Clemente Alejandrino”, Helmantica 37, 337-354.
  • Dasen 2013 V. Dasen, “Des artistas différents? Nains danseurs et musiciens dans le monde hellénistique et romain”, S. Emerit (dir.), Le statut du musicien dans la Méditerranée ancienne, Égypte, Mésopotamie, Grèce, Rome, El Cairo, 259-277.
  • Décor I C. Balmelle – M. Blanchard Lemée – J. Christophe – J.-P. Darmon – A.-M. Guimier Sorbets – H. Lavagne – R. Prudhomme – H. Stern, Le Décor géométrique de la mosaïque romaine I, Paris, 1985.
  • Dunbabin 2004 K. M. D. Dunbabin, “Problems in the Iconography of roman Mime”, C. Hugoniot - F. Hurlet - S. Milanezi (eds.), Le statut de l‘acteur dans l‘Antiquité grecque et romaine, Tours, 161-182.
  • Dunbabin 2016 K. M. D. Dunbabin, Theatre and Spectacle in Art of the Roman Empire, Ithaca-Londres.
  • Guidobaldi 1992 M. P. Guidobaldi, Musica e danza, Vita e costumi dei Romani antichi 13, Roma.
  • Jory 1970 E. Jory, “Associations of Actors in Rome”, Hermes 98, 224-253.
  • King 1997 R. J. King, “Dancers in the Columbarium of the villa Doria-Pamphili”, D. Scagliarini Corlà ita (ed.), I temi Figurativi nella Pittura Parietale Antica (IV sec. a.C.-IV sec. d.C.): Atti del VCI Convegno Internazionale sulla Pittura Parietale Antica, Imola, 77-80.
  • Kondoleon 1999 C. Kondoleon, “Timing Spectacles: Roman Domestic Art & Performances” B. A. Bergmann - C. Kondoleon (eds.) The Art of Ancient Spectacle, Washington, 320-341.
  • Lanciani 1895 R. Lanciani, “Le picturae antiquae cryptarum romanarum”, Bull. Comm. 23, 165-192.
  • Lembke 1994 K. Lembke, “Ein Relief aus Ariccia und seine Geschichte”, RM CI, 97-102.
  • Léveder Bernard - Calero 2015 G. Léveder Bernard - L. Calero , “Las Puellae gaditanae, una coreografía con acento propio”, Anas 27-28, 107-120.
  • Lindgren 2015 E. Lindgren, Sempronia’s Song, Attitudes to Women’s Music-making in Ancient Rome, Uppsala.
  • Muñoz 1914 A. Muñoz, “Indagini sulla chiesa di Santa Sabina sull’Aventino”, Studi Romani II, 329-342.
  • Muñoz 1919 A. Muñoz, La Basilica di Santa Sabina in Roma, Milán.
  • Muñoz 1924 A. Muñoz, L‘Eglise de Sainte Sabine a Rome, Rome.
  • Naerebout 2009 F. G. Naerebout, “Das Reich tanzt: dance in the Roman empire and its discontents”, O. Hekster - S. Schmidt-Hofner - C. Witschel (eds.), Ritual Dynamics and Religious Change in the Roman Empire, Leiden, 143-158.
  • Nash 1968 E. Nash, Pictorial Dictionary of Ancient Rorne II, London.
  • Neira 2011 L. Neira, “Sociedad e imagen en los mosaicos romanos. Desde la óptica interesada de las elites”, P. Fernandez Uriel - I. Rodriguez Lopez (eds.), Iconografia y sociedad en el Mediterráneo Antiguo, Salamanca, 387-410.
  • Nogara 1910 B. Nogara, I mosaici antichi conservati nei palazzi pontifici del Vaticano e del Laterano, Milán.
  • Péché 2002 V. Péché, “Tibicinae, fidicinae, citharistriae, psaltriae: femmes musiciennes de la comédie romaine”, RBelgPhilHist 80, 1, 133-157.
  • Perea 2004 S. Perea, “Extranjeras en Roma y en cualquier lugar: mujeres mimas y pantomimas, el teatro en la calle y en la fiesta de Flora”, Gerión Anejos 8, 11-43.
  • Puchner 1983 W. Puchner, “Byzantinischer Mimos, Pantomimos und Mummenschanz im Spiegel der griechischen Patristik und ekklestiastischer Synodalverordnungen”, Maske und Kothurn 29, 311-317.
  • Puchner 2002 W. Puchner, “Acting in Byzantine theatre: Evidence and problems”, P. Easterling - E. Hall (eds.), Greek and Roman Actors, Cambridge, 304-324.
  • Robotti 2005 C. Robotti, “I mosaici del Museo Campano di Capua”, CMGR IX, 1171-1173.
  • Vesterinen 2007 M. Vesterinen, Dancing and Profesional Dancers in Roman Egypt, Helsinki.
  • Wardle 1981 M. A. Wardle, Musical Instruments in the Roman World, Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of London, London.
  • Webb 2002 R. Webb, “Female Entertainers in Late Antiquity”, P. Easterling - E. Hall (eds.), Greek and Roman Actors, Cambridge, 282-303.
  • Williams 1999 C. A. Williams, Roman Homosexuality, Ideologies of Masculinity in Classical Antiquity, New York.
  • Wootton 2004 G. E. M. Wootton, “Representations of Musicians in the Roman
There are 44 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Archaeology
Journal Section Article
Authors

Luz Neira Jiménez This is me 0000-0002-2421-6792

Isabel Rodríguez This is me 0000-0002-6671-8213

Publication Date November 30, 2021
Published in Issue Year 2021 Issue: 14

Cite

APA Neira Jiménez, L., & Rodríguez, I. (2021). Reflections on Music Performance and Dancing in a Roman Mosaic Found on the Aventine. Journal of Mosaic Research(14), 217-231. https://doi.org/10.26658/jmr.1014555
AMA Neira Jiménez L, Rodríguez I. Reflections on Music Performance and Dancing in a Roman Mosaic Found on the Aventine. JMR. November 2021;(14):217-231. doi:10.26658/jmr.1014555
Chicago Neira Jiménez, Luz, and Isabel Rodríguez. “Reflections on Music Performance and Dancing in a Roman Mosaic Found on the Aventine”. Journal of Mosaic Research, no. 14 (November 2021): 217-31. https://doi.org/10.26658/jmr.1014555.
EndNote Neira Jiménez L, Rodríguez I (November 1, 2021) Reflections on Music Performance and Dancing in a Roman Mosaic Found on the Aventine. Journal of Mosaic Research 14 217–231.
IEEE L. Neira Jiménez and I. Rodríguez, “Reflections on Music Performance and Dancing in a Roman Mosaic Found on the Aventine”, JMR, no. 14, pp. 217–231, November 2021, doi: 10.26658/jmr.1014555.
ISNAD Neira Jiménez, Luz - Rodríguez, Isabel. “Reflections on Music Performance and Dancing in a Roman Mosaic Found on the Aventine”. Journal of Mosaic Research 14 (November 2021), 217-231. https://doi.org/10.26658/jmr.1014555.
JAMA Neira Jiménez L, Rodríguez I. Reflections on Music Performance and Dancing in a Roman Mosaic Found on the Aventine. JMR. 2021;:217–231.
MLA Neira Jiménez, Luz and Isabel Rodríguez. “Reflections on Music Performance and Dancing in a Roman Mosaic Found on the Aventine”. Journal of Mosaic Research, no. 14, 2021, pp. 217-31, doi:10.26658/jmr.1014555.
Vancouver Neira Jiménez L, Rodríguez I. Reflections on Music Performance and Dancing in a Roman Mosaic Found on the Aventine. JMR. 2021(14):217-31.

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