The Lord of Time, a roman Senator, and the Grand Duke of Tuscany: the marvelous story of the late antique mosaic of Vignale

CYCLE: The Rome Dialogues. Europe, Asia, and Africa around the Mediterranean
SPEAKER: Enrico Zanini
DATE: Thursday, November 5, 6:00 PM

In 2014, a large floor mosaic from the Late Antique period was unearthed at the archaeological site of Vignale in Tuscany. Despite the many vicissitudes it has endured, the mosaic preserves much of its original beauty, expressed through its materials, figures, and colors. Above all, it is an extraordinary concentrate of stories spanning a vast period: from its creation in the 4th century AD to its initial discovery in the early 19th century, and finally to its second discovery in the present day.
This fragment of the Roman world tells us how the Romans represented Time, how an aristocrat from the age of Constantine might have decorated his luxurious country residence, and how a ruler of pre-unification Italy imagined and created one of the country's first archaeological parks.

Enrico Zanini is Full Professor of Archaeological Research Methodologies at the University of Siena, where he also teaches Late Antique Archaeology and Byzantine Archaeology. He has conducted excavations and research in Rome, throughout Italy, and in various regions of the Eastern Mediterranean. He currently directs investigations at the Roman, Late Antique, and Early Medieval site of Vignale (Piombino) and at the Byzantine Quarter of the Pythion in Gortyna, Crete. He is the author of approximately 200 publications, including four monographs, the most recent of which is dedicated to the archaeological site of Vignale (Rome 2024).