One noted site for Mosaics is the Island of Delos. However clearly whoever created this one hadn't seen a leopard unless the cat depicted here is some unknown now extinct sub species? I suspect given some of the depictions of leopards I've seen in other ancient art that some artists had seen what are now called king cheetahs and given the spots thought they were a kind of leopard.
The Hellenistic master who designed this piece has moved away from the older outline style influenced by vase painting towards a more tonal style.
This may be a copy of a painting however it could also be an original work. Pliny writes about pictors who apparently designed and oversaw the creation of mosaics. My next post features one such work.
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