Image Details

JOINT SEPPHORIS PROJECT/ERIC AND CAROL MEYERS

A PORTRAIT IN PAVEMENT. With her hint of a smile, slightly tilted head, and mysterious eyes, the beautiful woman (or goddess) depicted in this mosaic is often called the “Mona Lisa of the Galilee.” A superb example of ancient mosaic artistry, this portrait was created using hundreds of tiny tesserae (stone cubes, some as small as 2–3 mm in width) in the third century C.E. Unearthed at the Galilean city of Sepphoris, it is remarkably well preserved; about 85 percent of the original mosaic remains intact.