Battle Of The Centaurs And Wild Beasts

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There is a beautiful floor mosaic called The Battle of Centaurs and Wild Beasts that was created at Hadrain's Villa in Tivoli, Italy by an known artist. But it is believed that this art piece is a copy of a painting done by a 5th century Greek artists that was named Zeuxis. The art form is mosaic tesserae, which is when the artist cuts and fits pieces of colored stone and glass to make an image. The Battle of Centaurs and Wild Beasts is a snapshot of a moment inside a fierce battle between two races recorded on the floor. The mosaic tells the story about one centaurs fight with three wild beasts and how he became victorious, even though the end is not shown in the art piece. The mosaic can be broken into three central aspects that bring the battle's story alive; the two centaurs and their position, the wild beasts and their positions and the way the landscape brings all the aspects together. The centaurs (Greek mythical half-horse half-man creatures) are the main characters in this piece, in my opinion. There is one female centaur and one male centaur, the gender differences are easily depicted by the color of their complexions and the size of their torsos. The female centaur is smaller than the male centaur. From what is visible beneath the fatal claws of the tiger, one could tell that the human and horse halves of the female centaur's body are fairer then that of the alive male counter part. The male centaur's torso is tan and muscular displaying the god-like image that the Greeks created their human forms under. The male centaur also shows dominance by the stance and position the artist shaped him in. He is reared up on his hind equine legs while he is lifting a massive boulder over his head. The position of his body tells the he is heaving that boulder as far back as possible so he could send the boulder down at tremendous speed on the tiger. It is clear

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