IL MOSAICO DEI FILOSOFI: L’ASTRONOMIA GRECA DA ALESSANDRIA A POMPEI

Abstract

This paper reconsiders the well-known Philosophers Mosaic, preserved today in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples. Comparison of the characters on the mosaic with identifiable portraits of Greek philosophers, who appear to be mainly astronomers, leads to a new interpretation of the scene. The author also hypothesizes the existence of a 2nd century BCE Alexandrian original, exhibited in the famous Library. A possible attribution of the Pompeian copy to the same workshop that executed the Casa del Fauno mosaics is considered.