Winged Eros with a Shield, unknown maker from Italy

Episode 256. I’m David Cateforis with another Art Minute from the Spencer Museum of Art. In the Spencer's Ancient Case, a third-century Roman mosaic depicts Eros, the god of love, whom the Romans also called Cupid. The ancient Romans created mosaics out of crafted squares, or tesserae, made of materials such as marble, ceramic, and glass, pressed into mortar or concrete. Romans fashioned mosaics for floors, the bottoms of pools, and to decorate walls. In the Spencer’s marble mosaic, which was probably made for a floor, the artisan used different shades of flesh colored tesserae to create the effect of light and shadow on the body of Eros, modeling the figure and giving it a sense of three dimensions. The son of Venus, the Roman goddess of love, Eros had a reputation for shooting arrows at unsuspecting couples, causing them to fall in love. In the Spencer’s mosaic, however, he carries a shield. The military reference alludes to Eros's role as the patron god of adolescents, who underwent military training. It also refers to the notion that love be a destructive force, with the power to upset propriety and social conventions. With thanks to Nancy Hernandez and John Younger for their texts, from the Spencer Museum of Art, I’m David Cateforis.

Winged Eros with a Shield is a fragment of a mosaic made in Italy circa 200 CE, in the Roman Empire. This work is made with marble and mosaic.

Winged Eros with Shield is a fragment of an ancient Roman floor mosaic showing a nude, winged cherub wearing a yellow cloak and carrying a shield. The fragment is set in a square slab of concrete approximately three feet wide and three feet high. The slab is displayed on a low pedestal that is higher in the back so that the mosaic can be viewed at an angle. The mosaic is composed of hundreds of irregular, approximately quarter-inch stone fragments in varying natural colors. The figure Eros is outlined in dark reddish stone, which lightens row by row to a pale rose color, showing the shading of his body. The Eros seems to be in motion, turned toward our left with his back foot lifted as if he is mid-step. His right arm is extended up and out in front of him and his left arm bears a round, reddish shield with a large spike in the center of it. His wings trail behind him over his shoulders and are light brown and grey. His cloak is fastened at his neck and falls behind him in folds to his knees. The background is a dark slate grey, and around and underneath the Eros, a brown grape vine curls with greenish-gray leaves springing from it.

Surrounded by scrolling vines, this fragment showing Eros—also known as Cupid—was once part of a larger floor mosaic and was probably accompanied by other Erotes in various poses. Tap the Web icon to see an image of another Erotes mosaic. Mosaics were made by highly specialized craftsman who carefully chose each stone or glass tile, also known as tesserae, to create the overall image with remarkable depth and detail. This work is almost 2,000 years old. What context does it add to the other works you have seen so far? How do you think it may have come to be at the Museum?