Gardners Art through the Ages A Global History

uncovered at Pella in the homes of the wealthy. The Pella mosaics are
pebble mosaics.The floors consist of small stones of various colors
collected from beaches and riverbanks and set into a thick coat of ce-
ment. The finest pebble mosaic yet to come to light has a stag hunt
(FIG. 5-68) as its emblema (central framed panel), bordered in turn
by an intricate floral pattern and a stylized wave motif (not shown in
the illustration). The artist signed his work in the same manner as
proud Greek vase painters and potters did: “Gnosismade it.” This is
the earliest mosaicist’s signature known, and its prominence in the
design undoubtedly attests to the artist’s reputation. The house
owner wanted guests to know that Gnosis himself, and not an imita-
tor, created this floor.
The Pella stag hunt, with its light figures against a dark ground,
has much in common with red-figure painting. In the pebble mo-
saic, however, thin strips of lead or terracotta define most of the con-
tour lines and some of the interior details. Subtle gradations of yel-
low, brown, and red, as well as black, white, and gray pebbles suggest
the interior volumes. The musculature of the hunters, and even their
billowing cloaks and the animals’ bodies, are modeled by shading.
Such use of light and dark to suggest volume is rarely seen on Greek

painted vases, although examples do exist. Monumental painters,

however, commonly used shading. The Greek term for shading was

skiagraphia (literally, “shadow painting”), and it was said to have

been invented by an Athenian painter of the fifth centuryBCEnamed

Apollodoros.Gnosis’s emblema, with its sparse landscape setting,

probably reflects contemporaneous panel painting.

HADES AND PERSEPHONERecent excavations at Vergina

have provided valuable additional information about Macedonian

art and about Greek mural painting. One of the most important

finds is a painted tomb with a representation of Hades, lord of the

Underworld, abducting Persephone, the daughter of Demeter, the

goddess of grain. The mural (FIG. 5-69) is remarkable for its intense

drama and for the painter’s use of foreshortening and shading.

Hades holds the terrified seminude Persephone in his left arm and

steers his racing chariot with his right as Persephone’s garments and

hair blow in the wind. The artist depicted the heads of both figures

and even the chariot’s wheels in three-quarter views. The chariot, in

fact, seems to be bursting into the viewer’s space. Especially note-

worthy is the way the painter used short dark brush strokes to

Late Classical Period 141

5-69Hades abducting Persephone,

detail of a wall painting in tomb 1,

Vergina, Greece, mid-fourth century bce.

3  3 –^12 high.

The intense drama, three-quarter views,

and shading in this representation of

the lord of the Underworld kidnapping

Demeter’s daughter are characteristics

of mural painting at the time of Alexander.

1 ft.