Mosaic bead

Unknown

1st century A.D.

Glass

J. Paul Getty Museum

A glass bead decorated with a painted face. The face has large eyes, a small nose, and red lips. The bead is primarily blue and red with gold flecks. The upper and lower parts of the bead are made of opaque red glass. The central band is comprised of four plaques each one with a Medusa's face placed in a white, roundish outline. There are no additional plaques between the plaques with the Medusas. The faces are not perfectly aligned. The red coil on one end is imperfectly wound, permitting us to see that it was wound on the blue band with the embedded face florets. The other red coil is partly covered by two of the faces that appear to have “sagged” over it.