This is a mosaic of a lion hybrid. Mosaics are made up of very small colorful tiles to compose the larger image, this mosaic is composed of oranges, reds, yellows and blacks. The coloring of the lion is vibrant and fiery, more so around its head and mane drawing the eye in to this specific area. This lion, was actually called a Chimaera and was a creature in Greek Mythology. He was killed by Bellerophon who was assisted by Pegasus. It was a Lion with a goat head coming out of its back and its tail had a snake head on the end. It was considered to be a monster because of those characteristics and its fire breathing nature. In this mosaic it was being depicted as being attacked which was evident because of its arching back and fire breathing nature. The head on its back was also on the defensive which only solidified that the Chimeara was under attack, and his attacker was Bellerophon as we preivously mentioned. Although we cannot see this due to most of the mosaic being destroyed. We initially thought that this artwork was displayed on a wall; however, it was on the floor of The Great Constantinople Palace which means that it was a fairly large piece. The palace was turned to rubble by the Ottomans, resulting in a lot of the artwork to be destroyed which would explain the missing pieces of the mosaic. It was discovered in the 1920’s when there was an excavation done of the palace. It is now held in the Great Palace Museum in Istanbul. Sources: http://www.livius.org/cn-cs/constantinople/constantinople_palace_mosaics.html http://istanbul.for91days.com/2013/03/15/the-great-palace-mosaic-museum/ http://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/Creatures/Chimaera/chimaera.html
