The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 20, 2024

Mosaic of Tigress and Cubs

Mosaic of Tigress and Cubs

300s CE
tesserae
Overall: 142.9 x 135.4 cm (56 1/4 x 53 5/16 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1987.65
Location: 103 Roman

Did You Know?

This mosaic includes over ten thousand tesserae, or small cut-stone tiles.

Description

Despite its rectangular shape and creation from mostly square tesserae, this mosaic incorporates many curves in its composition, particularly for the tails of the tigers. With one cub on her back and two before her, the mother tiger reaches out with one paw and an open mouth, whether to scold or to play. Unlike lions, leopards, and bears, tigers appear relatively rarely in Roman art, with the tigress seen more frequently than her male counterpart.
  • -1984
    Gallery G. Maspero, Paris (Marianne Maspero), France, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1987-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Turner, Evan H. "The Year in Review for 1987." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 75, no. 2 (1988): 30-71. Listed, p. 65, no. 8. www.jstor.org
    Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, Ohio: The Museum, 1991. Ill. p. 16 (Byzantium). archive.org
  • The Year in Review for 1987. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 24-April 17, 1988).
    CMA 1988: "Year in Review 1987," CMA Bulletin 75 (February, 1988), p. 65, no. 8.
  • {{cite web|title=Mosaic of Tigress and Cubs|url=false|author=|year=300s CE|access-date=20 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1987.65