Spring does not seem to be in a hurry to show up…
So I thought sharing a few Roman mosaics depicting her might warm us up !
The Romans loved to represent the four seasons as persons. Usually they would come with plants or occupations characteristic of the seasons. While Summer would present mature wheat, Autumn grapes, and winter bare branches and a warm coat ! Spring would often come with blooming flowers, birds,…
In Acholla, Tunisia, Spring is crowned with roses blossoms and holds a cornucopia
In Brittania’s Corinium (present day Cirencester) she wears a crown of fruits and berries. A thrush is sitting on her left shoulder
In Ostia Antica, the main port of Rome, Spring, here surrounded by a bright border of swastika, is crowned with Ivy and little birds. Here she is named “Ver”, which is a little surprising as this is often used to name Summer, It could also be the last remains of a “Primavera” which more often relates to Spring.
Sometimes Flora
At the Villa Baccano, Residence of the Emperor Septimus Severus – Spring, here also known as Flora, wears a golden torque, flowers and ivy leaves
Sometimes she flies…
On the Haidra four season mosaic from Tunisia, Spring represented as a winged Eros, is surrounded by blossoms of what looks like a pomegranate tree. This mosaic was gifted by the Tunisian government to the United Nations.
In the Palacio Lebrija in Sevilla Spain, Spring is crowned with red berries and flowers. This spring mosaics comes from Italica, the first Roman colony established out of the Italian peninsula.
Sometimes, Dionysos sneaks up on us…
Spring mosaics sometimes represent Dionysos or Bacchus riding a bull as he dies on the great mosaic of the seasons from St Romain en Gal. This piece visible at the Museum of National Archeology of Saint Germain en Laye
In the house of Bacchus in Complutum, (now Alcalá de Henares, near Madrid, Spain).Spring is wearing a crown of daisies
And in Zliten, Libya, a resplendent Spring is winged like the eros of the Haidra mosaic. She is wearing a bushy crown of berries and flowers and holding a rose
I wish you all a warm, flowery and happy Spring !
