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mosaics from the Middle
Eastern region. Mr. Mayer died in 1974 and his collection of about 2,000 items was left to his wife . She established a program which actively loaned items from her private collection to colleges and museums, and she later sold several of the contemporary art pieces for millions of dollars.
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The fragment is located in
Gallery 153, the Ancient and Byzantine Gallery, at the Institute. It is still in some ways used in its original intended way, aesthetic representation, but it has lost its function as a structural element. The piece is near the back corner of its gallery with like objects.
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and a member of the purchasing committee for the Art
Institute. He and his wife Beatrice “Buddy” Mayer travelled the world, collecting art. Mrs. Mayer worked with children in Israel, and this particular mosaic fragment may have come into the Mayers’ possession because they had fallen in love with
111:. A related object from the same donor and region also specifies that the room within which the floor was located was likely semipublic, such as a reception or dining room. The text suggests that this image was once among several other examples of exotic animals, which
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in 46 CE. Since the region in which this object originated had experienced Roman control prior to the making of the piece, this is a likely influence and possible reason for this particular image's creation.
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The work was a gift in 1993 from a Mrs. Robert B. Mayer. In 1989, just a few years before the accession of this particular piece, the donations of the Mayer family were discussed in an article in the
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Gallery 153 is arranged chronologically and so this work “belongs” in this location according to its place in time, and has an interactive iPad beside its display case to entice visitors to stop.
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region and were often only seen while being paraded around at public events. Giraffes were collected by Romans beginning with the first one being brought to
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Snyder, Barbara. "A Private
Audience with the Masters: Two Dickinsonians take care of Chicago’s art treasures." Dickinson Magazine, Winter 2003.
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Bowman, B. A. "Transnational Crimes
Against Culture: Looting at Archaeological Sites and the ‘Grey’ Market in Antiquities,"
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Muchnic, Suzanne. “Two Major
Chicago Art Collections on Christie’s Fall Sales Schedule.” Los Angeles Times, Sept 7, 1989.
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and originated in northern Syria or
Lebanon. Mosaics of this type were commonly used to decorate wealthy family villas.
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Museum label, Mosaic
Fragment with Man Leading a Giraffe, Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago.
107:. It was part of a much larger composition which covered the floor of a wealthy family
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Mosaic
Fragment with Man Leading a Giraffe, Byzantine, northern Syria or Lebanon
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Video of Mosaic
Conservation and Display at The Art Institute of Chicago
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Kennedy, Andy. "Dallas Museum Volunteers to Return Mosaic to Turkey,"
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were considered to be at that time since they were non-native to the
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Nelson, Robert S. "Living on the Byzantine Borders of Western Art,"
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Vogel, Susan. "Always True to the Object, in Our Fashion,"
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170.8 x 167 x 6.35 cm (67 1/4 x 65 3/4 x 2 1/2 in.)
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212:The Art Institute of Chicago Annual Report 1993-4.
281:The Art Institute of Chicago Mission and History
152:. Robert B. Mayer was a founding member of the
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306:Collection of the Art Institute of Chicago
77:Mosaic Fragment with Man Leading a Giraffe
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83:from the 5th century CE, now held in the
247:Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice
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268:Poetics and Politics of Museum Display
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154:Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art
99:The fragment originated in either
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167:Lod Mosaic Archaeological Center
203:Pliny, Natural History, VIII.69
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270:(Smithsonian, 1991): 191-204.
140:The Art Institute of Chicago
16:5th century Byzantine mosaic
286:Object Online Catalog Entry
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85:Art Institute of Chicago
56:Art Institute of Chicago
172:Basilica of San Vitale
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249:, 24 (2008): 225–42.
256:(December 3, 2012).
316:5th century in art
263:35/1 (1996): 3-11.
254:The New York Times
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311:Byzantine mosaics
150:Los Angeles Times
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89:Byzantine
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161:See also
113:giraffes
69:1993.345
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105:Lebanon
60:Chicago
81:mosaic
261:Gesta
109:villa
101:Syria
79:is a
121:Rome
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