Apsidal Room, "The Dieta of Orpheus" (35)
Files
Publication Date
10-8-2025
Abstract
The mosaic is disfigured by large gaps, but the scene can still be recognized. This mosaic is enclosed by a laurel-leaf frame running along the entire perimeter of the room. It depicts Orpheus, a mythical singer and poet, dressed in a large drapery. He turns his gaze to the distance, as if to seek poetic inspiration. Thanks to the sweet sound that his zither spreads, of which only a small tract remains, animals of all kinds gather around him. It appears to depict a section from Ovid’s Metamorphosis 142-143: “Such was the wood attracted by the poet, who sat in the maze of a flock of beasts and birds”. This mosaic puts the diaeta of Orpheus in dialogue with the room of Arione (41) by following the same apsidal structure. In both rooms, the triumph of virtue and reason over animal violence is recognized.
Model Creation Date
02/01/2022
Alt Text
A three-dimensional model of a long, rectangular room with a semi-circular alcove at its back. Though deterioration and time have eroded away about half of the mosaic tiles that decorate the room's floor, the overall scene can still be discerned from what images remain. A statue of a human figure standing on a plinth can be see at the very back of the room against the crest of the alcove's curved wall. The remnants of some kind of square-shaped object are seen in the center of the room, though what once stood there is unknown. The 3D model can be freely moved, rotated, and zoomed in and out, allowing the viewer to inspect the object with greater detail and from multiple different angles.
Extent
1 3D Model
Media Type
Models (Representations); Renderings (Drawings)
Digitization Specifications
Method: Agisoft Metashape
Processing Software
Agisoft Metashape
Download Size
27MB
Geometry
119.4k Triangles
Format
Digital Only
Materials
1
Rigged Geometries
No
Scale Transformations
No
Textures
1
UV Layers
Yes
Vertex Colors
No
Vertices
60.3k
Recommended Citation
USF Institute for Digital Exploration, "Apsidal Room, "The Dieta of Orpheus" (35)" (2025). Villa del Casale Mosaics. 20.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/idex_casale/20
