Roman mosaic of the fishes

The Roman mosaic of the fishes of villa Xauxelles is from the III century A.D. and it was located in front of the entrance of the dressing room of the bathrooms in the villa. In the mosaic there is a pond in which several real marine species such as red mullet or sea bream are represented. Normally in the bathrooms, the mosaics are related to the water. 

The 3rd century was a very difficult period for the Roman Empire. Many cities such as Edeta (Liria) or Illici (Elche) suffered general destruction by the Goths. We do not have much data on how this crisis affected Allon (Villajoyosa). But we do have the knowledge of the existence of a large stately residence next to the road that went to the valley of Alcoy. This villa suffered a serious fire, we do not know if it was an unfortunate accident or an attack.

The owner was very rich and important, probably a senator from Rome. After the fire, he rebuilt his residence to make it a kind of palace. He spared no expense: marble, painted reliefs on the walls and luxurious mosaic floors. The mosaics came from a company in Carthago Nova (Cartagena) which at that time began to offer its services throughout the southeast. Normally, the brought a repertoire of drawings and materials in color. In the rest of the baths, the owner decorated it with black and white mosaics, but for the entrance of the dressing room, he decided to use a design that is still one of the most beautiful Valencian Roman mosaics today.

In the center of the pond, on each side, we see a scallop (Saint James scallop) is represented to reinforce the marine theme. On both sides of the shells appear a red water lilies, typical of Roman ponds. The movement of the water is indicated by waves in the shape of an "E" and other strokes of blue and green colors. It is made up of 18 types of glass, marble, ceramic, limestone porphyry garnet from Egypt and even a semiprecious stone such as red jasper in various shades: garnet, red and orange. There are also several more fragments of the mosaic from the same room with geometric decorations and tangents. 

Length: 1200 mm; diam.: 560 mm
Nº inv. Vilamuseu 003357