More About… Asarotos Oikos
““[Sosos] laid at Pergamon what is called the asarotos oikos or ‘unswept room,’ because on the pavement was represented the debris of a meal, and those things which are normally swept away, as if they had been left there, made of small tessera of many colours.””
I first came across the Asarotos Oikos (‘unswept floor’) mosaic floor theme from the fabulous example in the Vatican Museums. I really loved the sense of fun the mosaic artist and the commissioner must have had, displaying the extravagant aftermath of a Roman banquet. It’s so simple but so cute, I wanted to make a print inspired by it.
I drew up the designs above, initially intending for it to be A5, but I struggled to fill the space in an impactful way, as evidenced by my cutting and pasting of the constituent parts to reorganise the elements. You can even see from the drawings that I had initially intended on the print to be made up of three colours. In the end, I decided to simplify the design to focus on the shapes.
The final print looks great and I’m very happy with the results, though I will make another version to sell as a card in due course!