the great

orpheuspavement

A N N O D O M I N I

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roman britainThe Romans were empire builders and Britain wastheir next step north, in Europe, after conquering Gaul(part modern Germany, part France.) They were inter-ested in possible mineral wealth & other naturalresources: the Celts already traded exports like tin,slaves and hunting dogs with Gaul. They also came toadd to the military honours of their leaders, especiallythe Emperor Claudius.

Many people are aware of Julius Caesar’s exploratorymilitary trip in 55 BC but the big push into Britaincame in 43AD with the arrival of a large army (about40,000 strong) on the Kent coast. This army was madeup of 4 legions (about 5,000 strong each) drawn mostlyfrom Gaul. They were officially Roman citizens, whichgave them distinct privileges, and were usually over 5’8” tall. The army also contained many auxiliary fightersfrom distant countries of the Roman Empire: Syrianarchers and Greek horsemen (from Thrace.)

Training & discipline were the two great strengths ofthe Roman Army, and it made them virtually invinciblein Britain. From Kent they spread out to conquer thecapital of a warlike tribe of Celts (Catuvellauni), atmodern day Colchester. They then went north and west,sometimes fighting the local tribes, sometimes makingpeace treaties. By 49 AD the legions were in Devon andup north as far as the Humber river.

They were rulers and administrators of England andparts of Wales for nearly 400 years: think of the samegovernment having ruled England since beforeShakespeare’s birth! Many traces of their presence arestill here - archaeological, geographical and genetic.

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Detail of the Orpheus Pavement at Littlecote Park in Wiltshire

Reconstruction of a Roman dining room, The Corinium Museum, Cirencester

who were the romans?

f o l l o w t h e

c r e a t u r e s

• A people from Italy who created a large empire in Europe and the countries around the Mediterranean Sea.

• They conquered the Celtic tribes of Britain, using their powerful army which had soldiers from all over Europe.

• They ruled here for 400 years.

• They built stone buildings, towns, bridges & long roads.

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They established towns and settlements around militarycamps, for example any English town ending in -cester. Other famous towns were Bath, Lincoln & York.They built excellent roads between settlements, origi-nally for the soldiers but which were later used bymerchants & traders. Many of these roads are founda-tions or designs for modern roads, like the Fosse Way,Watling Street, and the A1, and were built, like so manyof their achievements, by slave labour. In agriculturenew ploughs with iron blades were introduced, drawnby oxen or horses, and they created gardens with plantssuch as roses.

Romans were famous for their sophisticated technolo-gies as they were good industrialists and engineers.They built impressive stone buildings, some with under-floor heating, bath houses, and sculptures; theyimproved the mining of tin, lead, iron & gold and evenproduced a type of steel; and introduced sophisticatedpottery and clay tile roofing.

Politically they introduced the concept of a nation intoBritain, instead of separate tribal areas. They broughtsettled peace (Pax Romana) to Britain, as to their othercolonies, based on a strong army, codified laws and anadvanced civil administration. This also involved a firmtax system.

Religiously they were generally very tolerant of theworship & practices of the cultures they commanded.They even adopted some of the gods of the BritishCelts, as at Bath. Culturally they introduced all thelearning stored in written Latin texts, for those wholearnt the language.

Finally it is worth remembering that they added to thegenetic mix of the British through intermarriage.Perhaps you have a bit of Roman inheritance in yourmake-up.

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CARVETII

LOPOCARES

PARISI

CORITANI

ICENI

TRINOVANTES

BRIGANTES

DECEANGLI

ORDOVICES

CORNOVII

CATUVELLAUM

DOBUNNI

DUROTRIGES

DUMNONI

IRON AGE TRIBES

roman invasion

the roman invasion of britain& principal celtic tribes

SILURES

DEMETAE

BELGAEATREBATES

CANTI

REGNI

gloucester

cirencester

norwich

colchester

london

legio

n ixleg

ion

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legion xiv & xx

legion ii

legion iilegio

n iibath

The following large settlements developed underRoman occupation:

Gloucester: the Romans needed to establish a militaryfort to prepare for further advances west. They set oneup at the lowest, easy crossing point of the Severn andwe know that a military site existed by 48 AD atKingsholm, half a mile from the centre of Gloucester(Glevum).

This must have seemed like real frontier country withtrouble lying west, across the river, but now they couldprotect the fertile Severn Vale, cultivated by theDobunni, and any movements up & down the river.Barracks have been discovered which were largeenough to hold thousands of soldiers and from there theSilures were eventually pacified (75 AD). Largeamounts of horse gear, pieces of armour and ballistabolts have been found, along with quaysides for boatscrossing the river where it once flowed near Shire Hall.A massive wall & towers were built around the city andwithin, two large meeting halls. Gloucester was also acentre for tile manufacture but its link with the militarywas sealed when a settlement was built there forretiring legionaries. In its heyday Glevum was about7,500 strong.

Cirencester: the Dobunni centre, nearby, must haveinfluenced the choice of Cirencester (Corinium) asanother fortress town, but it grew into a regionalcapital for the south-west and one of the three mainRoman towns in Britain, with a population at its heightof about 6,000. From here the administration of land &estates was organised (Romans believed in privateownership), and laws and taxes were administered. Itbecame an impressive town and under the present-daystreets are a large public meeting space (forum), atemple/hall (basilica) and other public buildings.Nearby is a public arena & stadium - an amphitheatrewhich still exists. The town became the centre forskilled craftsmen and merchants.

roman Gloucestershire

The Romans had reached the county within a few yearsof the invasion and found two natural defences, againsthostile tribes from Wales: the scarp edge of theCotswolds and the River Severn. They created a man-made line of defence, roughly parallel to the east - aroad, the Fosse Way, which ran from Exeter throughCirencester to Lincoln, with forts at places like Bath.The local area also offered rich farming and cultivation,which were already established.

The tribe which occupied much of modernGloucestershire - the Dobunni - offered little directresistance. Part of the tribe, whose centre was nearCirencester, at Bagendon, allied themselves with theRomans whereas others probably moved west to jointhe warlike Silures tribes in South Wales. Within ageneration or two the Dobunni leaders were enjoyinglife under the Romans, with large country estates and anew tribal capital at Cirencester. The ordinary Celtswould have experienced little change in their daily livesand labours.

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Map of principal Roman towns and roads, from Samuel Lysons book The Roman Antiquities Discovered at Woodchester 1793-97

Corner detail from the Great Orpheus Pavement at Woodchester (from the reconstruction)

what happenedin this area?

f o l l o w t h e

c r e a t u r e s

• The Romans quickly settled in the Cotswold hills because they formed a natural defence against some hostile Welsh tribes.

• It was also a very productive farming area, even then.

• They built fortress towns at Gloucester & Cirencester, farm houses (villas) and roads like the Fosse Way, which are still in use.

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In the countryside, the farmland was rich and hadalready been worked for hundreds of years. The Romansbuilt farmhouses (villae) throughout the county, varyingin size from a couple of rooms to mansions designed onMediterranean patterns. Much of the population, ofcourse, continued to labour on the land or tend sheepas before, but the local co-operative leaders would havelived in some of the big villas with the probable respon-sibility for smaller villa-farms within their estate. Thesenew landlords are likely to have adopted a Roman wayof life, dividing their time between country estates andthe new towns. Their chief duty was to produce surpluscrops & animals by way of taxes and to help feed theRoman troops.

The Roman period was one of great prosperity forBritain and particularly Gloucestershire. We know thisfrom the splendour of the great villas, as they existed inthe 300s, with their wall paintings, bath houses, placesof worship, underfloor heating and - of course - theirextraordinary mosaic floors.

Inscription erected byLuicius Septimus,recording Corinium asthe capital city ofBritannia Prima

woodchester villaThe villa at Woodchester was magnificent: it was large(over 65 rooms) and based on an Italian design aroundtwo courtyards. Of more than 500 villa sites excavatedin Britain, only a few were courtyard villas. At least 20of the rooms were decorated with mosaics, includingthe large hall which contained the great Orpheus pave-ment - the largest, most intricate mosaic north of Italy.In its heyday, the villa must have belonged to someoneof great wealth and influence, perhaps the Governor ofthe west of Roman Britain.

Like other villas, it would have been sited for thecomfort and convenience of the owners - in this case asheltered position under a hill, with running water,plentiful stone and abundant fuel from the wooded hill-sides. It is situated in an area with a number of nearbyforts guarding the Severn Vale, at a convenient distancefrom three important towns (Gloucester, Bath &Cirencester) and with good roads at hand. The villa wasprobably begun in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian(117-138 AD) and finished between 325 & 345 AD, aperiod of intensive villa building in Britain.

Once the Romans had left Britain, to defend theirEuropean heartland, the villa may have been deliber-ately damaged. Certainly the pavement area was usedas a graveyard by the Saxons in the 600s AD. A churchwas built near the NW of the pavement about 1120 AD.The site was rediscovered and used as a place of burialin about 1600 AD. The scholar Edward Llwyd made theearliest known report of the pavement in 1693 and itwas first mentioned in a book in 1695 (Bishop Gibson)who referred to:

“a famous monument, having birds,beasts and flowers all in small stones

a little bigger than dyes.”

Most of what is known about the site is due to thework of Samuel Lysons, son of a Gloucestershire cler-gyman, who excavated the villa over four years (1793-97) and published his findings in a work dedicated toGeorge 111 (‘The Roman Antiquities discovered atWoodchester’).

Just over half of the original pavement now lies buriedbeneath the graveyard, having been damaged by theelements and by the intrusion of coffin-shaped holes init. It has been called “one of the most important Romanarcheological sites in Europe.” (Prof. Timothy Darvill,Cotswold Archeological Trust)

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Samuel Lysons Plan of the Villa, from Samuel Lysons book The Roman Antiquities discovered at Woodchester 1793-97

Samuel Lysons Plan of the Location in 1793

Plate from Samuel Lysons The Roman Antiquities discovered at Woodchester 1793-97

Woodchester Villa and surrounding buildings, from an illustration by Steve Smith

View of Woodchester in the 18th century,

from Lysons

Woodchester in the 1970s

The Churchyard in the 1970s

The pavement uncovered in 1973

what waswoodchester villa?

f o l l o w t h e

c r e a t u r e s

• Near here the Romans built some large countryside villas for rich & important people - like local rulers.

• Woodchester is one of the biggest - a cross between a palace, a country house & a farm. It was set in a sheltered valley with plentiful stone, water & wood.

• It had over 60 rooms. The largest room contained a huge mosaic the remains of which are under Woodchester churchyard.

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Corinium School of Mosaicists

Mosaics were introduced into Britain within a few decades ofthe conquest. Fragments of one found at Exeter (Isca), builtabout 60 AD, can be linked to craftsmen accompanying thelegions. We can now distinguish the work of different regionalschools of mosaicists, based on the style of composition andthe recurring ornamental patterns (research by David Smithin the 1960s).

ivLioness from original pavement

Peahen from original pavement

Duck from original pavement

who made the mosaic pavement?

f o l l o w t h e

c r e a t u r e s

• Cirencester was a very important Roman town, with lots of traders and craftsmen.

• One group made mosaic floors for country villasand town houses.

• The owners could choose from a number of patterns and designs, such as the story of Orpheus and the animals.

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In Corinium (Cirencester) twoschools have been identified –the Corinium Saltire and theCorinium Orpheus schoolbased on the recurrence ofcharacteristic composition,patterns and motifs. TheOrpheus school is best knownand probably the most sophis-ticated of those schools. Itswork has been identified overa wide area: around Coriniumnine sites are listed as well as2 dubious ones (Smith). Thecircular composition ofOrpheus and beasts found atBarton Farm Villa and in thevillas at Newton St Loe,Withington and Woodchester is different from repre-sentations of the same subject elsewhere in theEmpire.

Several scholars have pointed to a connectionbetween the work of a mosaic designer based inTrier in Gallic Belgica where he possibly trainedand later came to Britain taking advantage of theboom in villa building. The originality of the newdesigns, unparalleled on the continent, must havebeen his own contribution.

Very little is known however about the lives of themosaicists. The predominantly upper class writersof the time saw them as mere artisans and few lefttheir signatures. They were paid in the same rangeas bakers, carpenters and blacksmiths but lessthan painters. The distinction that we might maketoday between art and craft did not exist in antiq-uity where the same word techne in Greek and arsin Latin were used for both.

By 250 AD, most mosaic production seems to have ceased,but another surge of building and decorating occurredthrough most of the 4th Century AD. The latest known mosaicis in a villa remains near Gloucester (Hucclecote) which hadthe worn coin of the Emperor Theodosius (395 AD)embedded in the mortar.

Craftsmen trained in Mediterranean workshops came toBritain and developed a local style of design and ornamenta-tion by the second half of the 2nd Century. Foreign craftsmenand local apprentices probably worked side-by-side on manysites. The villa mosaics of the 4th Century are morenumerous, of more original design and of a higher qualitythan those found in the towns. We can imagine the owners ofvillas vying with each other for the status symbol of a mosaicand, perhaps, trying to outdo a wealthy neighbour.

Part of the re-construction

There are 47 known Orpheus mosaics in the Roman worldand most are found in the Western Empire. There were threetypes of design:

a The figure of Orpheus and wild creatures depicted in individual panels.

b A single panel in which Orpheus is seated under a tree with animals on either side and birds in branches above.

c The circular design with Orpheus central, surrounded by acircle or circles of processional animals and birds.

Type c is emphatically if perhaps not absolutely exclusive toBritain

The work of the Corinium Orpheus School has been identifiedover a wide area around the city, in at least 9 definite sites.There are unique circular pavements of Orpheus, surroundedby beasts, in Gloucestershire villas at:

• Barton Farm, Cirencester; • 33 Dyer Street, Cirencester; • Withington and Woodchester.

Other sites are: Newton St.Loe (Somerset), Brading (Isle ofWight), Winterton & Horkstow (both in South Humberside,formerly Linclonshire) & Littlecote Park (Wiltshire).

Two other possible sites, both of which are destroyed, but forwhich there is some evidence are at Pit Meads (Wiltshire) andWhately (Somerset).

Central panel of Orpheus from the pavement at Littlecote Park, Wiltshire

Brading, Isle of Wight, lithograph, from JE & FGH Price ‘Remains near Brading’ 1881

Barton Farm, Cirencester,Anonymous engraving

Winterton, South Humberside

Dyer Street, Cirencester, K. J. Beecham History of Cirencester 1886

Littlecote Park, Wiltshire

Orpheus from Barton Farm, Cirencester

Winterton, South Humberside,Engraving by W. Fowler 1798

how did they make mosaic pavements?

f o l l o w t h e

c r e a t u r e s

• They cut, by hand, thousands of small squares of local stone & brick.

• They drew a design on a flat, dry floor & laid the pieces down, like a giant jigsaw.

• There are about 10 English villas with the Orpheus design.

Orpheus Pavements in Britain

Mosaics were constructed from small, hand-cut piecesof stone, marble, clay and glass (rare in Britain) calledtesserae: these are cubes varying in size from approxi-mately three centimetres down to one centimetre square.The smaller tesserae occur in the better mosaics likeWoodchester’s. They were cut at the stonemason’s work-shop or on-site. The technique of construction was labo-rious: design was followed by calculation of the numberof tesserae in the right shape, size and colour. It wasvital to keep them dry so, wherever possible, pavementswere placed over a hot air heating system (hypercaust).Otherwise a sand and gravel foundation was created. Adryish mortar bed was then laid on top and the tesseraepressed down into it. The mosaic was then rolled andpolished.

Lysons has suggested that all the material used in theWoodchester pavement came from the locality: eg. bluelias (limestone) from the Vale of Gloucester, white oolite(limestone) from the Cotswolds, dark brown stone fromnear Bristol, lighter brown stone from Lypiatt (nearStroud), and the red cubes from fine brick. Whencomplete, it contained over one million and a half cubes.

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In 1712 an elephant was described (Edmund Browne) andin 1722 a central star (Richard Bradley). Both are nownon-existent. Lysons work of 1796 contained severalanomalies – for instance the book included a picture of theelephant which Lysons said had disappeared. In Lysons’private diaries Bob found reference to a meeting in 1780with the Rector of Woodchester who had seen the elephantearlier and drawn it for him.

Bob conducted careful research into other Orpheusmosaics to help replace the missing sections as accuratelyas possible. The figure of Orpheus himself, for example,seemed to be the same size as that on the Barton Farmmosaic, so the dimensions of his trunk, arm and head wereadopted and placed over the lower half of the figure whichstill existed at Woodchester. Several of the beasts werevery similar on both mosaics, suggesting very close links intheir construction.

who made the replica?

f o l l o w t h e

c r e a t u r e s

• Two brothers, John & Bob Woodward, builders from Wotton, who saw the original when it was last uncovered in 1973.

• It took them 10 years to complete & involved careful measurements of the original.

• They studied a very similar pavement in Cirencester to work out the missing parts.

• The mosaic has over one and a half million pieces.

In recent times the original pavement has beenuncovered every 10 years for public viewing. At itsmost recent exposition, in 1973, the brothers Bob &John Woodward visited the site and were spellboundby the splendid work. This exhibition caused localchaos because 151,000 visitors descended on thevillage and the brothers realised that another uncov-ering might never take place. They decided to makea full-scale reconstruction, based on carefulmeasurements, 300 vertical photographs on a gridpattern and carefully considered re-construction ofthe missing parts.

Bob Woodward turned from local builder into aresearch scholar as he tried to discover what themissing parts must have looked like. The earliestreport he found dates back to 1693 when Celticscholar Edward Llwyd recorded having seen ‘birdsand beasts on the floor.’ A manuscript in theBodleian library reported that in 1711 visitors sawwhat they thought was a wyvern - a two-legged,winged creature; in fact what they had seen wasanother mythological creature a griffin - a creaturepart lion, part eagle - parts of which still remain.

The original was made of limestone in 7 differentcolours and 14 shades, the pieces varying from 11/4 inch(32mm) to 1/4 inch (6mm). The Woodward brothersscoured the country to find clays with suitable naturalcolours: the only shade which they had to colour artifi-cially was the one used to represent water.

Twelve tons of clay were fired into strips which werethen cut into cubes. Colour slides of the original wereprojected from below onto a transparent workbench sothat the image of each square appearing on the benchwas exactly the same size as the original. Each newtessera was then cemented onto boards so that wholesections could be moved individually.

1.6 million tesserae and ten years later the reconstruc-tion was finished. In all there are 400 sections whichcan be laid on a flat surface in a few hours.

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The Making of The Reconstruction

1 First the entire pavement was photographed from afixed distance, on a strict grid formation

2 Each slide was back projected from beneath the workbench

The original pavement showing damage through gravedigging and other loss

Area of original shown in brown over complete pavement

The completed reconstruction

The completed reconstruction and the original in 1973

3 The image of the tesserae appears on the workbench,at the same size as the original

4 The work area showing tesserae, workbench and extrac-tion ducts for glue fumes

5 Fired clay of the correct colour is made into individualtesserae from strips

6 The different coloured tesserae ready for laying

7 Each piece is positioned on a clear acrylic sheet... 8 ..and glued into place before grouting

9 Panels nearing completion 10 Drying finished sections in an oven to anneal theacrylic sheets to prevent bending

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the story of orpheus & eurydicevii

who was orpheus?

f o l l o w t h e

c r e a t u r e s

Orpheus was a poet and a musicianthe son of Apollo and the museCaliope. He was taught to play the lyreby Apollo and his music and singingenchanted all creatures, even rivers,rocks and trees would come to listento his song. His bride was calledEurydice who by her name was linkedwith the Queen of the underworld andthe moon.On their wedding day Eurydice waspursued by Aristaeus who tried torape her. In her flight she trod on asnake and died instantly. Orpheus was inconsolable with griefand his plaintive musical cries somoved Pluto and Persephone, Kingand Queen of the underworld, thatthey allowed him into the lowerrealms in order to rescue her.This was on condition that he did notlook back at her until reachingdaylight. As they are about to leavethe lower realms he turns throughyearning and she is lost forever. Orpheus refrained from meat eatingand sang of the beginning of thingsand of the Gods. He introduced initiations brought backfrom his visit to the Queen of theunderworld.

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Niccolo dell’Abate (1509 - 1571) The Story of AristaeusThe painter came from Modena in Italy

and spent the last twenty years of his life at Fontainbleau

Later it was told that Zeus smote him with a thun-derbolt for teaching men the mysteries. An older account tells of the anger of the women ofThrace who were outraged that he had kept awayfrom the love of women for three whole years and sodismembered his body, throwing the limbs into thesea. According to this version Orpheus’ head floated intothe mouth of the river Meles at Smyrna, wheresubsequently Homer, the poet of the Trojan War, wassaid to have been born, being the son of a river God.

Orpheus was a man who played music so beautifullythat even animals were enchanted. On their weddingday his wife was bitten by a snake and died. In thosedays people believed that when you died you went tothe underworld. Orpheus was very sad and went to theentrance of the underworld. He sang such a beautifullysad song that the King and Queen let him go in to findhis wife and bring her back. He had to agree not tolook at her until they were outside, but he thought shewas so beautiful that he could not resist a glance justbefore they got to the daylight. This meant he lost herforever, as he had broken his promise. This made himeven sadder than he was before.

Detail from Hermes, Orpheus and Eurydice, Marble relief, Roman copy of the original, c 5th century BC,Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples, Italy / Bridgeman Art Library

Orphism & Mythology‘I am a child of earth and of starry heaven

I have paid the penalty for deeds unrighteous,

I have flown out of the sorrowful weary wheel,

I have passed with eagerfeet into the circle desired’

Orphic Tablet From a Tomb

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what ismythology?

f o l l o w t h e

c r e a t u r e s

From around 500 BC, certain religious cults in theMiddle East adopted Orpheus as their prophet anddeveloped ideas about the gods, the nature of thecreated world, the creation of mankind and the destinyof the soul. These groups then spread and circa 100BCassembled a cosmogony from much older material. TheOrphics, who included famous Greeks like Plato andPythagoras, believed that mankind was a foolish racein their natural state, being part brutal (the legacy ofthe giant Titans) and part spiritual (from the godDionysus). The brutal parts had to be purified to obtainsalvation.

They contemplated the meaning of the lyre, seeing itsymbolically as something which could restoreharmony. Orpheus represented an evolution fromconflict and was part of a belief which emphasisedrising above a narrow view of self. The Orphics werestrict vegetarians, ascetic in lifestyle and believed incultivating moral purity. They also preached that atbirth they had forgotten their spiritual origins; in orderto find salvation, they had to rediscover the universalconsciousness.

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The myth itself travelled to Rome at an early date andrepresentations of Orpheus charming the birds and beastsare frequently found in the city and other parts of theRoman Empire - occurring with a Christian significance inplaces like the city catacombs.

Brueghel, Jan the Elder (1568 - 1625) Orpheus in the Underworld 1594Palazzo Pitti, Florence

Details from Niccolo dell’Abate (1509 - 1571) The Story of Aristaeus

Orphic Sacramental Bowl Rumania, 3rd or 4th c ADThe sixteen figures show the stages of an inward search. The night sea journey (or the dark night of the soul) isrepresented sunwise around the bowl. Like the setting sun the initiate descends into symbolic death and is rebornlike a new day, qualified to experience the ‘meeting of the eyes’ of Apollo

• Mythology is a collection of stories about Gods, Goddesses, Heroes, Heroines magic powers and monsters.

• They are such good stories that they last for hundreds of years.

• Orpheus was special because he went into the underworld without dying and came out again. Only Theseus, Hercules and Perseus had done this before.

orpheus in Musicix

what is an opera?

f o l l o w t h e

c r e a t u r e s

• An opera tells a story like a play but the actors and actresses sing instead of talking.

• The story of Orpheus and Eurydice (yuri-dee-chee) is such a good love story that lots of composers have written operas about it.

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Cima da Conegliano Orpheus Uffizi Gallery, Florence

Toulouse-Lautrec La Troupe Mademoiselle Eglantine 1896

Dancers in the Moulin Rouge 19th Century photograph

The famous Can Can comes from Offenbach’sOrphée aux Enfers (1858). The first performancein Paris scandalised the audience because of theirreverent attitude Offenbach had to the “sacred”musical myth.

Birtwistles’s Mask of Orpheus (1986) has anextremely complex structure and in the libretto thecharacter of Orpheus has his flesh eaten byDionysian Women.

Nicola Pellipario of Urbino (fl1510-42) Orpheus and Eurydice at the Gates of the Underworld c.1515Museo Correr, Venice

Nicola Pellipario of Urbino (fl1510-42) Orpheus and Charon c.1515Museo Correr, Venice

The Orpheus Myth has produced countless examples ofinspired music, not just because of the musical natureof the protagonist but as a reflection of the frailty of thehuman condition which seeks solace in the eternity anddivine in music.

Monteverdi’s opera Orfeo was first performed at thecourt of Vincenzo Gonzaga I in Mantua in 1607. Theemphasis was put on how best to express the textwhich had far reaching consequences for music ingeneral.

A century and a half later Gluck’s Orpheus of 1762 hadsimilar impact. Gluck wanted to return to the purity ofthe text and amalgamated French and Italian operaticstyles. It is the libretto par excellence having been set62 times as an opera from the period 1600 to thepresent day, although the Orpheus myth in opera goesback as early as 1480 but unfortunately the manuscripthas been lost.

Girls, forget what you’ve read.It happened like this -I did everything in my powerto make him look back.What did I have to do, I said, to make him see that we were through?I was dead. Deceased.I was resting in peace. Passé. Late.Past my sell-by date...I stretched out my handto touch him onceon the back of the neck.Please let me stay.But the light had already saddened frompurple to grey.

It was an uphill schlep from death to lifeand with every step I willed him to turn.I was thinking of filching the poem out of his cloak,when inspiration finally struck.I stopped, thrilled.He was a yard in front.My voice shook when I spoke -Orpheus, your poem’s a masterpiece.I’d love to hear it again...

orpheus in poetry & performing art x

how else can you tell stories?

f o l l o w t h e

c r e a t u r e s

• You can also tell stories using poetry, film, theatre and dance; for example ballet

• Sometimes people change the story to give ita happy ending

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Gustave Moreau (1826-98) Orpheus at the tomb of Eurydice

From Eurydice by Carol Ann Duffy,from her collection ‘The Worlds Wife’ published by Picador 1999

From classical times through the intervening centuriesto the present day, poets have continually returned tothe stories of Greek and Roman mythology. The ancienttale of Orpheus and Eurydice has been successivelytransformed by Christian allegorists and chivalricromancers in the Middle Ages, Victorian romantics andtwentieth century freudians and feminists.

A continuous thread of inheritance and influenceconnects ancient Greece and Rome with our modern,‘western’ world. It is a lineage which has shaped ourart, our literature, our institutions, our values and ourphilosophies. One aspect of that lineage has been theuse of classical mythology in English literature. For centuries, writers and poets have drawn upon acommonly held supply of familiar mythological stories,characters and images. These mythological referenceshave worked as a type of ‘code’ to communicateinstantly recognisable meaning.

However, this code of mythology is not static. Whilst themythic characters and images may remain the same,the interpretation of the stories changes from onehistorical period to another and from writer to writer.To trace the evolution of one myth throughout thecenturies demonstrates not just how adaptable mythsare, but also how successive literary periods haveparticular preoccupations and concerns. For example,the image of Orpheus as a sublime musician may havestayed more or less intact throughout the centuries (although his original lyre has been altered to a lute, aviolin and an electric guitar), but the meaning of hismyth has altered dramatically. To the Greeks, Orpheuswas a religious mystic; to the Romans he became atragic lover and by the Middle Ages he had developed intwo different ways: into a symbol of a sinful man tryingto save his soul from hell and/or a Christ-like goodshepherd saving human souls from damnation.

The myth of Orpheus has always held a special fascination forwriters and artists. Told simply, it is a wonderfully tragic storywith a compelling dramatic structure which deals with thegreat themes of love and death. On a more abstract level,Orpheus is the archetypal musician and poet and he has cometo symbolise any creative activity which attempts to createorder and harmony in the world through music, poetry, art,philosophy or religion.

The large number of twentieth century interpretations ofOrpheus demonstrates how powerful a figure he hasremained, and how the story continues to resonate in ourculture. In addition to poetry, the story has proved to becompelling for all the performing arts, with its themes of love,death, violence and separation. The treatment of Orpheus inthe twentieth century has tended to be unremittingly bleak, areflection of modern angst and alienation. A number of impor-tant films and plays were produced from the 1940s onwardsand particularly interesting has been the way modern drama-tists and film-makers have used the Orphic myth to exploretheir own personal, private preoccupations, deconstructingand manipulating the story to suit their purposes

Jean Cocteau, the French poet, playwright, painter, celebrity and film-maker, used the Orphic myth to explore the relationshipbetween the artist and his creations; reality and the imagination. In Orphée, produced in 1959, Cocteau inverts the Greekmyth. At the end of the film, Orphee, having been enticed by Death into making a journey into the underworld, actually comesback into the real world and settles down with his mundane, prosaic wife, Eurydice. There is a feeling that something hasgone out of his life: something noble and poetic has been sacrificed by his reunion with Eurydice. The film is a meditation onthe division between the tangible, real world and the unknowable world of inspiration.

For the Renaissance, Orpheus symbolised cosmicharmony and order. In the eighteenth century he hadcome to represent culture and therefore civilisation.By the time the Victorians got hold of him, he hadreturned to being a tragic lover.

In the twentieth century, interpretations becameincreasingly diverse: Orpheus was used to represent,amongst other things, the existential dilemma.Modern poets have used him to explore the subcon-scious, to express the limitations of human art and toattack him for being an overbearing, arrogant male,making assumptions about Eurydice’s state of mind.Now it would seem that the 21st century is about torevive the ancient idea of the poet’s power to givevoice to the spirits of nature: the poet Orpheus as asource of ecological wisdom.

All these differing, successive interpretations do notcancel each other out. Instead they build up increas-ingly complex layers of meaning. In this sense themyth of Orpheus and Eurydice is like a palimpsest, awriting material which is re-used after the earlierwriting has been erased, but with faint traces stillbeing able to be deciphered. For example, an ironicfeminist poem like Carol Ann Duffy’s ‘Eurydice’ relieson the reader bringing an earlier, more heroicperspective of Orpheus to the poem so that thesardonic tone of voice is understood.

“...Therefore the poet

Did feign that Orpheus drew trees,stones, and floods,

Since naught so stockish, hard, andfull of rage

But music for the times doth changehis nature.

The man that hath no music inhimself,

Nor is not moved with concord ofsweet sounds,

Is fit for treasons, stratagems, andspoils;

The motions of his spirit are dull asnight,

And his affections dark as Erebus;

Let no such man be trusted. Mark themusic.”

The Merchant of Venice, William Shakespeare, c. 1596

iv Jan van Brueghel the Elder produced severalversions of Orpheus in the Underworld which reflect thelate Medieval obsession with the after-life prevalent inNorthern Europe.

vii Orpheus'final legacy to thevisual arts has tobe seen in thecontext of theshort-lived twen-tieth centurymovement,Orphism.

Its founder,GuillaumeApollinaire deliber-ately made refer-ence to thelegendary Greekpoet and musician:his movement wasan attempt to restore to painting an element of lyri-cism and colour he saw as lacking in the austereCubist art of Picasso and Braque.

orpheus in the Visual arts xi

how do you knowthe pictures areabout orpheus?

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• You can see different stages of his story in the pictures.

• Artists decorated vases and painted pictures of parts of the story that were important to them.

• Look at the pictures to see how artistic styles change in different periods of history.

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Attic black-figure amphora depicting Orpheus playing the lyre, c.6th century BC Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, UK / Bridgeman Art Library

Orpheus, marble statue by Pierre de Francheville (1554-1615)Louvre, Paris, France / Bridgeman Art Library

Hermes, Orpheus and Eurydice, marble relief, Roman copy of the original c5th century BC, Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples / Bridgeman Art Library

Orpheus Teaching the Greeks the Art of Peace by Eugene Delacroix (1798-1863)Christie's Images, London, UK / Bridgeman Art Library

Orpheus Charming the Animals, c.1618 (panel) by Roelandt, Jacobsz Savery (1576-1639)Johnny van Haeften Gallery, London, UK / Bridgeman Art Library

i The myth of Orpheus in the visual arts has beenexpressed in a variety of styles and contexts throughoutthe history of Western culture.

The first appearance of Orpheusin art can be traced back to Greekvase painting at the beginning ofthe 5th century BC. The celebra-tion of Orpheus' musical charmsaccount for numerous early depic-tion's of the Greek minstrelplaying his lyre or Kithara to theThracians or by himself.

ii Orpheus' pursuit of his belovedEurydice into the Underworld wasthe subject of an ancient Greekmarble frieze of which manyRoman copies survive. This marble panel was originallypart of a parapet placed aroundthe altar of the Twelve Gods in theancient Agora at Athens.

iii The Renaissance heraldeda ‘rebirth’ of ancient Greecethrough the revival of classicalforms and the publication oftranslated, illustrated mytho-logical handbooks.

The marble statue of Orpheusby Pierre de Franchevillereveals a perfect synthesisbetween classical form andsubject.

v Artists from the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries continued to findartistic inspiration in the myth of Orpheus. Rubens homed in on Orpheus'anguish in the Underworld in accordance with the Baroque doctrine ofpsychological involvement with the subject. Poussin and Delacroix adopted alearned stance by the celebration of Orpheus' civilising powers through thearts of music and poetry.

vi On the other hand, R J Savery used the subject ofOrpheus charming the animals as an opportunity toinclude any number of colourful beasts.

Detail from Orpheus with a HarpPlaying to Pluto and Persephone inthe Underworld by Jan van Brueghel (the Elder)(1568-1625)Johnny van Haeften Gallery, London,Bridgeman Art Library

Gustave Moreau (1826-98) Orpheus at the Tomb of EurydiceMusee Gustave Moreau, Paris, France / Bridgeman Art Library

Occasional EventsPSYCHOLOGY AND MYTHOLOGY CONFERENCEJung pioneered the psychological interpretation ofmythology in a non reductive way and believed itrevealed the psychology of the unconscious. Since hisdeath his ideas have attracted enormous interest andmuch work has been done in this area. Joseph Campbell,who was the worlds leading expert on mythology andfocussed particularly on its psychological meaningpublished best selling books in America. Specialistpapers would be delivered on all aspects of Orphism andmore broadly the psychological interpretation of myth.

POETRY FESTIVALOrpheus is the God of poetry and the hymns of theOrphic tradition are written in poetic form. He isportrayed as lover, seeker of truth, mystic and idealisticsufferer. A celebration of poetry would be staged withreadings from well-known poets and high calibreunknowns. A poetry prize could be offered which wouldhelp to profile the event.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONFERENCEPapers would be invited with particular reference to theRoman occupation of Britain. There are many activegroups of people interested in archaeology with theirown specialist publications. An organisation even existsfor the preservation of Roman mosaics.

MUSIC AND DRAMAOrpheus is the God of music and as such has inspiredcomposers and musicians for Centuries. There are innu-merable pieces of music and drama, which are relatedand could be performed. In the wider context as withpoetry all music comes under the Orphic umbrella.

MOSAIC MAKING WORKSHOPSThe Woodward brothers have patented their method ofmosaic making. The time taken to make a mosaicdepends on its size and complexity. Workshops would beoffered to demonstrate the method. The more ambitiouscould construct mosaics for conservatories, swimmingpools etc. whilst children and the less ambitious couldmake small ones of their favourite animal.

EDUCATIONAL VISITSSchools would be particularly welcome to visit thiseducational resource. In addition to the displays specialtours would be organised appropriate to their age group.These could include mosaic making workshops, videos ortalks. Souvenir information and work packs could beprovided to tie in with the national curriculum.

LECTURESOccasional informal lectures on a range of relatedtopics. These would cover the history of the mosaic andthe making of the re-construction. Dilute versions of themore specialist talks could be presented as part of athemed evening.

Anno Domini - the future of the pavementxii

what happens to thepavement next?xii

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Photograph of model of proposed developmentshowing the Church Street elevation restored.Notice how the gables are echoed in the designof the new building, providing a visual link withStroud’s past

View of Church Street in Stroud before the AlmsHouses (on the right) were demolished to makeway for the present car park

The long-term aim of Anno Domini is to find a suitablefinal resting-place for the re-construction of the GreatOrpheus Pavement in Gloucestershire. Until such timeas the necessary criteria are fulfilled the mosaic will bemade available as a significant mobile culturalresource. The mosaic can be laid in a suitable tempo-rary venue in a few hours.

Pantechnicon have designed a building originallyintended for Church Street in Stroud which would notonly complement the mosaic by expressing the narra-tive of the Orpheus myth in architectural form, butwould also be suitable for ancillary activities. Thedesign shows the possibility of an urban re-generationscheme which connects with the environment andcommunity of Stroud.

The ancillary activities have been suggested by themotifs in the mosaic and their amplification in relationto the Orpheus myth. These fall into two categories –those permanently on site and occasional events.

Permanent Fixtures

THE GREAT ORPHEUS PAVEMENTThe Pavement would be best displayed in a purpose built environment. Clear views of thePavement from close and middle distance with variable lighting as well as the possibilityof walking around the Pavement are essential. An electronic guided tour system wouldallow phased and timed circumambulation to coincide with imparting of relevant histor-ical, and mythological and symbolic information.

AN EXHIBITIONInformation about the Roman Empire and the Romans in Britain would provide a back-ground context to the main focus on Gloucestershire and Woodchester. The methodology used by the Woodwards to research the content of the missing parts ofthe buried mosaic and the ingenuity of their construction techniques will be covered indetail. Smaller mosaics will be featured and the actual equipment used in the re-construction shown. The story of their decision to attempt the re-construction and thesubsequent chain of events make a fascinating tale and demonstrate a living myth atwork. Preliminary discussions with Gloucester council have indicated a possible collabo-ration with Gloucester museum. All the equipment used in making the mosaic is availablewith a substantial library to form the basis of a display, which could include thefollowing: -

1. Romans in Britain2. Construction of Villas3. Mosaic Floors4. 4th Century Roman Floors5. Orpheus Pavements6. The Corinium School Of Mosaicists7. The Construction of Hypercaust Systems8. Selection of Mosaic Materials9. Quarrying, Stone Cutting and shaping10. Firing of Clay-Terracotta-Brick11. Workshops on Mosaic making (the Woodwards have patented their method).

ARCHAEOLOGICAL LIBRARYA large collection of relevant books many of which are rare and antiquarian will behoused on site and access given to interested parties particularly for research purposes.Membership subscriptions could be offered to individuals and institutions.

A SHOPMerchandise using images from the pavement could be developed. Relevant books andeducational material could also be offered.

CATERING FACILITIESA Mediterranean restaurant for evening dining would be complemented by a lighter lunchmenu. Perhaps themed evenings could be developed to include entertainment.

• We want to put it in a building in or near Stroud permanently so that people can comeand see it whenever they like.

• The building would have a nice restaurant and a big exhibition.

• There would be lots of activities for children and adults to take part in.

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