Physical description

Photograph of a mosaic pavement, representing athletic sports, in the smaller thermae (baths) of the Roman town of Ostia.

Place of Origin

Rome (photographed)

Date

1864-1870 (photographed)

Artist/maker

Parker, John Henry, born 1806 - died 1884 (publisher)

Materials and Techniques

mounted albumen print

Dimensions

Height: 33.2 cm mount, Width: 26.8 cm mount

Object history note

This object is part of a series of over 3,300 photographs documenting the principal monuments, artworks and artefacts of Rome from the classical age to the 1600s. The photographs were taken between 1864 and 1879 under the direction of John Henry Parker, the founder of the British and American Archaeological Society of Rome, and many were published in his Archaeology of Rome (1874-1879). Parker employed local photographers including Adriano De Bonis, Filippo Spina, Carlo Baldassare Simelli, Francesco Sidoli, Filippo Lais and Giovanni Battista Colamedici, as well as a Canadian, Charles Smeaton. The Victoria and Albert Museum holds a large collection of the photographs taken before 1870.

Descriptive line

Photograph of a mosaic pavement in Ostia, from a set commissioned by John Henry Parker, Rome, 1864-1870

Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)

From departmental notes
The Archaeology of Rome, by John Henry Parker. Oxford: J. Parker and Co., 1874

Materials

Photographic paper

Techniques

Photography

Subjects depicted

Baths; Excavations; Mosaics; Pavements

Categories

Photographs; Archaeology; Mosaic; Sport

Collection

Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection