Skip to Content
Closed today, next open Thursday. Closed today, next open Thursday.

Mosaic Fragment with Man Leading a Giraffe

A work made of stone in mortar.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

Image actions

  • A work made of stone in mortar.

Date:

5th century

Artist:

Byzantine; Syria or Lebanon

About this artwork

This mosaic fragment was once part of a larger composition that paved the floor of a wealthy family villa in the Eastern Mediterranean. Composed of thousands of small tesserae, or stone cubes, it shows a giraffe and a human handler standing against a decorative backdrop of scallop-shaped semicircles. No doubt originally set amid a profusion of other wild and exotic animals, giraffes such as this one captivated the imagination of those who saw them in parades and public games. Writing around the turn of the third century, the historian Cassius Dio (about A.D. 150–235), among others, called this marvelous creature a Camelopardus because, in his opinion, the giraffe combined the physical traits of both the camel and the leopard.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Arts of the Ancient Mediterranean and Byzantium

Culture

Byzantine

Title

Mosaic Fragment with Man Leading a Giraffe

Place

Tyre (Object made in)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

401 CE–500 CE

Medium

Stone in mortar

Dimensions

170.8 × 167 × 6.4 cm (67 1/4 × 65 3/4 × 2 1/2 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Mrs. Robert B. Mayer

Reference Number

1993.345

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/126436/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

Share

Sign up for our enewsletter to receive updates.

Learn more

Image actions

Share