Art Funded by you

Leopard and Gazelle Mosaic from Dewlish Villa

Unknown artist, 375

A vividly depicted scene of a leopard attacking a gazelle is the highlight of this fragment of Roman mosaic floor which was discovered at Dewlish, Dorset.

The panel is a surviving part of a much larger floor that once graced the principal room of a Roman villa. The remains of the villa, built and enlarged during the third and fourth centuries, were first discovered in the 18th century and were excavated between 1969 and 1979.

This mosaic fragment originally formed part of the border around a central design. Decorative bands of guilloche frame the scene of the gazelle and the leopard, which is one of the finest examples of Roman mosaic ever found in Britain. The animals are shown in lively detail, with blood clearly seen dripping from the gazelle’s wound. It is the work of the nearby Durnovarian school of mosaicists, probably made in the second half of the fourth century.

The mosaic now joins two other fragments of floor from the same villa in the collection of the newly refurbished Dorset County Museum in Dorchester.

More information

Title of artwork, date

Leopard and Gazelle Mosaic from Dewlish Villa, 375

Date supported

2021

Medium and material

Polychromatic mosaic tesserae, stone and terracotta

Dimensions

200 x 240

Grant

40000

Total cost

135000

Content note: This object record is part of our archive and has not been updated since it was first published. It may contain inaccurate information or outdated language. Please get in touch if you think this record should be amended.

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