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Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 20h

Still in Spain. Here’s a hint. 📸 me

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Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 22h

I’m still gallivanting! I immediately thought of a cornucopia, but it’s missing too much of the object. Had a blast today …

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Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 22h

It’s very surprising - gorgeous.

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I suspect that whether it was done on or off-site, slaves were probably doing the work. We do see some on-site tesserae production, such as at the Casa della Diana Arcaizzante in Pompeii, but I’d guess it was whatever was most convenient for the mosaicist and the home owner.

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Pat might know that, but I’m thinking it was relegated to slaves of all kinds.

It sure took my breath away.

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I’d have to go back over my search history and sources, which is unlikely during this trip. We’re having too much fun!

Here’s to an absolutely insane sunset from atop Granada, nestled up against the Alhambra. Cheers! #España 😊

A lowball glass filled with bright, dark red sangria, sitting on a blue-tiled ledge overlooking the plains and the city of Granada. The sunset is just beginning and kissing the sky a golden orangey-yellow on the right.

The end of the sunset over Granada, incredibly dramatic with deep, almost red oranges and fiery yellows, reflected by the scudding clouds above. The city on the plains is muted in blues and purples below.

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You can’t open the photos?

Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Reposted by Chapps

Happy weekend! 🦔 ❤️ Here’s a lovely ancient Egyptian blue faience hedgehog made some 3,800 years ago! Neues Museum, Berlin 📷 by me #Archaeology

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Yes, and when you pair it with the second fragment, which has grape leaves, I think you can consider this a Dionysian scene. I thought you might like this!

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Dr. Peter Paul Rubens @peterpaulrubens.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Were they? The sources that I accessed (very quickly) have said the opposite. The materials for a mosaic *must* be more expensive than the materials for a fresco, but quite a lot I’d think. Longer man hours, too, cutting stone into small tesserae. But a wall mosaic could come crashing down, too.

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Reposted by Chapps

A rare unfinished miniature of Elizabeth I provides a revealing glimpse of her in old age. By Isaac Oliver, immigrant artist in England, whose day is today.

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And yet the Getty keeps it in storage, semi-permanently. I’ve only seen pieces of it once many years ago for a special exhibition. It’s superior to a couple of other mosaics that they have hanging on their walls - why is this kept away from the public?

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Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Bears … in Egyptian art?? Where did they come across bears?

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Reposted by Chapps

The timeless beauty of ancient glass! This Roman glass scent bottle is around 2,000 years old, yet its elegant design feels surprisingly modern! British Museum 📷 by me #Archaeology

My photo shows a small Roman scent bottle made of cobalt-blue mould-blown glass in the form of a scallop shell. At the top it has a cylindrical neck with an out-turned rim. There is a thin, curved, handle either side of the neck. The top of each handle is attached to the neck, and the bottom is attached to the top of the scallop shell. Bottle dimensions: height 8.5 cm, diameter 5.2 cm. Dated AD 25-100. It is displayed on a circular, clear perspex (?) stand in a British Museum display case. The bottle was bequeathed to the British Museum by Felix Slade in 1869.

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I was so sad that it was missing from the display when I visited several days ago. Of course, I’ve seen it before and may have a few dozens photos of it, but still …

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It’s just having a wee.

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Sistory History Podcast @sistoryhistory.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Haha! We’re having a great time, while Joe presents at #ComicCon. I have no idea what he was doing in that pic. 🤪

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Reposted by Chapps

This intricate statuette of #Herakles - shown with his club and lion skin is exquisite and a wonderful way to start the weekend on this #findsfriday Hellenistic period bronze. 📸 Us, Archaeological Museum of Corfu #skystorians #ancientbluesky #AncientGreece #archaeology #classicsbluesky #Hercules

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Reposted by Chapps

Duncan Mackay @theduncanmackay.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

#1 Bestseller 💥 Archaeology. History. Boudica. Artefacts. Landscape. Travel. Torcs. Battles. Druids. Black Labrador. In a factual book. There might be more to life; but not much more… #BoudicaFriday #Echolands A Journey in Search of #Boudica

Echolands by Duncan Mackay with an Amazon best seller banner

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A stroll through Málaga’s Centro Histórico was suddenly - *needle scratch* - interrupted by the walls of the Alcazaba lit up in roiling green, with a solitary logo - an arrow intersecting a V. Los Vengadores! The music is a giveaway, and we know what the color green means … #AvengersDoomsday. 😁

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Discovered at the Roman villa of Finca El Secretario in Fuengirola, Spain, this ‘fake mosaic’ fresco might have meant the villa owners could find or afford a mosaicist, but the villa had many mosaic floor. The technique was perhaps used due to avoid the heaviness of mosaic walls. 🏺 3/

Ancient Roman floor mosaic with geometric patterns, in situ in the ruins of a Roman villa. The fresco would have been on the walls of one of these rooms.

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These fragments from a Roman villa in Spain are not from a mosaic but from a fresco. If you look closely you’ll see a grid of lines, many following the contour of the figures, much as tesserae do on mosaics. This trompe-l’oeil technique simulates mosaics. 1/ 🏺 1st-2nd c. Museo de Málaga 📸 me

Fragment of a fresco depicting part of a human face, mostly the eyes. Thin lines form a grid pattern, simulating the edges of tesserae.

Fresco fragment showing a naked torso of a woman, her legs and pubic area covered in a red himation (cloak). Her right hand carries a basket laden with fruit, which look like giant globes of grapes. Grapevine leaves appear in the background. A Dionysian scene. The faux tesserae grid lines follow the curves of the body.

Fresco fragment depicting some sort of half-human creature with wild hair and bare torso, gesturing upwards with his right hand and holding a branched stick with his left. The faux tesserae grid lines follow the curves of his garment and body.

Fresco fragment with the torso of perhaps a god with golden skin, a red himation flowing outwards and partially covering his or her legs. Perhaps Dionysos?

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So far, so good. Hot and humid, but nothing like summer in Andalucia.

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It was discovered in 1951 when construction work for the Casa de la Cultura revealed the cavea (seating area). The theater was eventually excavated, and the casa had to be demolished. Worth it! 🏺 2/

1950s black and white photo showing the partially excavated Roman theater, with the large Casa de la Cultura building still sitting atop the site. It was demolished shortly after.

Photo of the Roman theater, from the spot where the Casa de la Cultura once stood. We can see the full sweep of the cavea (seating) and the Moorish citadel above.

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An ancient #Roman theater is always the perfect backdrop for a selfie. Bonus points for the Moorish citadel looming above: the Alcazaba. No, Joe is not *that* much shorter than me - I don’t know what he did here.🏺 #ancientbluesky 1/

Selfie of me and my husband standing in front of the Roman theater, with the Moorish citadel looming above.

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Bwahahahahahaha! I’m dying … 😂

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Well, that gets a follow. Because I can certainly relate.

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I call these ‘Cthulu beakers’. 🐙 And it has an absolutely incredible excavation photo, below. bsky.app/profile/chap...

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That entire panel is just astonishing. I have to post my recent higher res photos, but all I have is this one, taken with an older iPhone. Still … wow.

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Oh, I think it can be both. Local politicians use it to pump tourist money, culture mavens use it to push their agenda, historians and others just want to get the antiquities home and possibly discourage looting (which it probably doesn’t do). It *might* discourage dealing in looted art.

Well, if I were British, I’m sure I’d have made the trek to France. I may still, after it’s returned there (I’m in California, so…). The last time I was in Heraklion, the museum was inexplicably closed for days. 🤷‍♂️

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I get it. Has to happen, but it’s painful.

They were illegally looted on Crete in the 1960s. The British were not involved. These were local looters who then sold them via a dodgy dealer.

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Since the beginning of humanity, sadly.

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Ah, yes, I know the Dumbarton Oaks pendant very well. It's exceptional. In the early Byzantine era, we see classical imagery still being used - on sarcophagi, on personal objects, jewelry, etc. The shift to a purely Christian world didn't happen overnight, and people wanted to hedge their bets.

Made in America Tactical Nylon Gear and Load Carriage Plate Carrier Vests made for military and law enforcement professionals, available to the public..

I would hope so! Actually, good full-body kevlar armor does protect the groin for exactly that reason. Unfortunately, for cosplaying idiots who drool over a new American civil war. But nonetheless ... it's familiar. www.first-spear.com/groin-protec...

first-spear.com

Groin Protector

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You were *very* lucky ... but, god, what a horrific accident. You were actually doubly lucky that you didn't lose consciousness, as many people with a severed femoral would be out within a minute or so, and unable to use a tourniquet. I won't even ask about the Angus bulls.

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Yep! No sun glare is going to be the death of him this day.

A more intact faience statuette of Aphrodite Anadyomene can be viewed at the #BrooklynMuseum, below. the blue-green faience, of course, enhances the concept of the goddess rising from the sea. 🏺 2/

Blue faience statuette of Aphrodite Anadyomene. The goddess is shown entirely nude, her hands raised to wring out her hair. At her left is a greatly schematized urn with a garment thrown over it. She stands on a round base with mouldings.

A true product of a multicultural society in Ptolemaic Egypt, this statuette combines a classical image of the Greek goddess Aphrodite appearing from the sea, just born, with the typically Egyptian material, faience. Egyptian artists achieved the characteristic brilliant blue of faience in a complex process combining ground quartz with a mixture of alkali.

Condition: Right hand missing. Two large areas of glaze missing from the upper rim of the base, one extending almost entirely across the back of the base and the other more than half-way across the front and including part of the left foot. A very small chip off the vase at the foot of the statuette. A small chip near the right knee of the figure, which shows the undarkened white body of the piece.

Greco-Egyptian, Ptolemaic period, late 2nd century BCE.

Brooklyn Museum, New York (44.7)

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