Odd stamps : 08 Stamps with special cuts - 08 c

A very nice sheet was issued only recently by the postal services of Luxemburg.

2007 - Luxemburg - The Vichten Mosaic

The Vichten mosaic depicts the ancient Greek muses. It used to adorn the reception hall of a Roman villa in Vichten but can now be seen in Luxembourg's National Museum of History and Art.

Dating from around 240 A.D., the mosaic of Vichten, which has an area of 61.3 m2 and is in an excellent state of preservation, shows in its main area the mythological and literary subject of the nine Muses, daughters of the supreme God, Zeus, and of the goddess of memory, Mnémosyne.

The Muses, defined around 700 BC by the Greek author Hésiode:

Thalie, Muse of comedy
Euterpe, Muse of music and lyric poetry

Thalia and Euterpe

Terpsichore, Muse of dance and dramatic choirs
Melpomène, Muse of tragedy

Terpischore and Melpomène

Clio, Muse of history
Uranie, Muse of astronom

Clio and Urania

Polymnie, Muse choir singing and harmony
Erato, Muse of love poetry

Polymnia and AErato

Calliope, Muse of epic elegiac poetry, in the company of the prince of poets, Homer.

central stamp

real mosaic

The eight « exterior » Muses are oriented on an axis towards the middle of the central medallion. The depiction of the clothing and other attributes of the different personalities, identified by latin inscriptions included above each medallion, is very detailed.
Two by two, they are joined on one octagonal stamp.
The central stamp is not octagonal.

back side of the Vichten sheet (Lux 2007)

This supberb mosaic used to adorn the reception hall of a Roman villa in Vichten and was rediscovered in 1995 on the site of a new agricultural operation in Vichten. Archaelogical resarch found the foundations of one of the most remarkable Roman villas ever discovered in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

detail real mosaic

After it's discovery it was carfully removed and it can now be seen in Luxembourg's National Museum of History and Art.