Fragmentary Mosaic Floor with Bear Hunt

Unknown

4th century A.D.

Stone tesserae

J. Paul Getty Museum

A mosaic depicts a hunting scene with men and dogs pursuing bears and lions. Decorative borders with floral motifs and faces frame the central action. Enough of the fragmentary floor survives to identify the subject as a bear hunt. The figures of three hunters are preserved, and one of them has his name, Lucius, inscribed above his head. The arm of another hunter is preserved along the left edge, along with his name, Minus. The hunters are driving four bears into a net; a fifth has already been captured. The net is set in a semi-circle and tied to trees at the right and left edges of the scene. The hunting scene is surrounded on three sides by a border of loop guilloche, and another vertical border of a foliate garland with a central ribbon frames the right end. The outermost bord