A very nice sheet was issued only recently by the postal services of Luxemburg.
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| 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
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| Thalia and Euterpe |
Terpsichore, Muse of dance and
dramatic choirs
Melpomène, Muse of tragedy
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| Terpischore and Melpomène |
Clio, Muse of
history
Uranie, Muse of astronom
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| Clio and Urania |
Polymnie, Muse choir
singing and harmony
Erato, Muse of love poetry
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| Polymnia and AErato |
Calliope, Muse of epic elegiac poetry, in
the company of the prince of poets, Homer.
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| central stamp |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
