Illustration
Fragment of a late antique floor mosaic depicting Ktisis (Gr. ΚΤΙΣΙΣ), personification of 'Foundation', first half of 6th century.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Ktisis is among the most often represented personifications of abstract ideas in the late antique Eastern Mediterranean, identified by a Greek name label. Floor mosaics of Ktisis from villas and public buildings are known from the Greek mainland, throughout Asia Minor and the Levant, to Cyrenaica in North Africa, where the personification adorned church floors. Four depictions alone come from the city of Antioch (modern-day Antakya in Turkey).
Ktisis is often shown together with other personifications, especially Ananeosis ('Renewal', 'Renovation') and, in Cyrenaica, Kosmesis ('Embellishment', 'Decoration'). She is usually represented as an elite, finely dressed woman, who in later depictions (5th-6th century) wears exuberant jewelry (bejeweled golden diadems and necklaces, pearl earrings, bracelets). Ktisis also often holds a measuring rod characterized by ends bent at a 90-degree angle; other personifications such as Ananeosis, however, are also sometimes depicted with this attribute, making the Greek name label the only way to distinguish between them.
In the New York mosaic, Ktisis is accompanied by a smaller male figure, which presents her with a cornucopia, a horn of plenty symbolizing abundance and prosperity.
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References
- Evans, Helen C., Melanie Holcomb, and Robert Hallman. "The Arts of Byzantium." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, 58, no. 4 (Spring 2001), pp. 4–68.
- Leader, Ruth. "Name Labels on Late Antique Mosaics." British Academy Review, January-July 2001, pp. 48–50.
- Leader-Newby, Ruth. "Personifications and Paideia in Late Antique Mosaics from the Greek East." Personification in the Greek World: From Antiquity to Byzantium, edited by Emma Stafford and Judith Herrin. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2005, 231–46.
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APA Style
Decheva, P. (2024, August 01). Late Antique Mosaic of Ktisis. World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://www.worldhistory.org/image/19254/late-antique-mosaic-of-ktisis/
Chicago Style
Decheva, Prolet. "Late Antique Mosaic of Ktisis." World History Encyclopedia. Last modified August 01, 2024. https://www.worldhistory.org/image/19254/late-antique-mosaic-of-ktisis/.
MLA Style
Decheva, Prolet. "Late Antique Mosaic of Ktisis." World History Encyclopedia. World History Encyclopedia, 01 Aug 2024. Web. 22 Feb 2025.
