The Beauty of Durrës

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The Beauty of Durrës
Albanian: Bukuroshja e Durrësit
National Historical Museum, Tirana, Albania

The Beauty of Durrës (also called The Beautiful Maiden of Durrës or The Belle of Durrës) is a

National Historical Museum of Albania in Tirana
.

History

Sketch by Camillo Praschniker, 1918

The mosaic was created in the second half of 4th century BC in

archaeologist Camillo Praschniker quickly examined the mosaic in April 1918 before the shelter was finished. In his article Muzakhia and Malakastra: Archaeological research in Central Albania (German: Muzakhia und Malakastra: archäologische Untersuchungen in Mittelalbanien), published in Vienna in 1920, Praschniker was the first to include a picture of the mosaic and he described it as a figurative masterpiece.[4]

Eventually, after the end of the war, The Beauty of Durrës was covered up and lost to view, only to be rediscovered in 1947 by an archaeologist from Durrës, Vangjel Toçi. It became widely known to the world of art history only after 1959.[5]

In 1982 the mosaic was carefully moved from Durrës and placed in the main hall of antiquities in the

National Historical Museum at Tirana, where it can still be seen today.[1]

Mosaic description

Some 24 centuries old, the mosaic known as The Beauty of Durrës has a surface area of about nine square metres. It is elliptical in shape, some 5.1 metres (17 ft) across at the widest and some 3 metres (9.8 ft) at the narrowest. The mosaic is made of unworked coloured pebbles and is still in fairly good condition.[6] The

Ancient Macedonia.[2][6]

The woman portrait

There are at least two theories about the subject portrayed in the mosaic. According to the historian and archaeologist Moikom Zeqo, the woman represented in the mosaic is the same as one painted on

Cretan goddess Eileithyia, who was goddess of childbirth and midwifery, assisting in the healthy delivery of infants.[1]
However, the archaeologist Afrim Hoti[8] suggests that the portrait of the woman is probably the maiden Aura, a companion of the goddess Artemis in hunting.[6]

The woman’s head is large in scale, with a broad face and wide cheeks. She has a long straight neck, and her head is slightly turned to the left side, creating a three-quarters portrait. Her image appears quiet and peaceful and her look is dreamy, almost melancholic. The figure is depicted with glossy red curved lips. The painstakingly elaborated plasticity of the lips, the lusciousness of their form and their slightly open position, gives her an exceptionally feminine physiognomy. A single small yellow and red pebble in the pupil of her eye creates a genuinely rare look on the woman's figure.[7] Her braided crown of auburn hair is particularly well depicted and quite distinguished from the black background through the usage of a white silhouette. The plastic effect of the mosaic’s female figure in its whole integrity, represents a work of highly developed artistic craftsmanship for the time.[2]

Background design

The design surrounding the female figure is unique concerning its composition and the mosaic background is black in colour. It is characterized by a strong lyricism of forms, evident in the continuity of the curvaceous lines, spontaneously harmonic design, and the fluid distribution of the elements. The female figure is surrounded by flowers of several kinds, such as

floral elements such as stalks, buds, and petals.[1][2]

Technique

The Mosaic was made using the

tesserae, which is contrasted by the dark black background. The river pebbles of different colors are stuck with each other with a great mastery.[1] The plastic effect of the portrait is achieved by using several nuances of white pebbles, positioned in the model with an exceptional skill. Whereas the black lines are used only for modelling the portrait's main features.[7]

The mosaic figure as part of culture and modern society

Book cover of "4 shekuj para Krishtit", by the poet Ferik Ferra, depicting The Beauty of Durrës

The Beauty of Durrës represents a symbol of beauty and it has become an iconic figure which is adopted in several forms of visual art, poetry, popular culture and commercial life especially in Durrës, the city of its origin. Examples of modern utilizations of the Beauty of Durrës are:

Coin depicting the Beauty of Durrës

In 2004, the

serrated white-metal coin with a face value of 50 Lekë, 24.25 millimetres (0.955 in) in diameter and weighing 5.50 grams, and some 200,000 of the coins were issued, made of an alloy of 75 parts of copper to 25 of nickel.[1]

The coin’s obverse shows the Beauty of Durrës mosaic, surrounded by arches and stylized floral motives from the mosaic. In the arch of the coin there are several decorative motifs, such as symmetrical circles of the Illyrian period. The reverse of the coin bears a decorative creation on its center, surrounded by floral motifs taken from the mosaic. This figure is still accompanied by circles up to the coin arch, below which there is the inscription "SHQIPËRI-ALBANIA 2004".[1]

The Albanian painter and engraver Petraq Papa made the punches from which the coin was minted,[1] and this was done by the Polish Mint (Mennica Państwowa SA) in Warsaw, Poland.[1]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j BANK OF ALBANIA Coin with “The Beauty of Durrës” Archived 2012-03-05 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ a b c d e f Fjalori Enciklopedik Shqiptar, Akademia e Shkencave - Tiranë, 1984 (MOZAIKU I DURRËSIT ME PORTRETIN E NJE GRUAJE, page 726)
  3. ^ Albanian cultural heritage, page 21 - National Tourism Agency
  4. doi:10.11588/diglit.33680
    – via Heidelberger historische Bestände.
  5. ^ ARISTOKRACIA E MOZAIKËVE TË DURRËSIT (in Albanian) March 3, 2010
  6. ^
    ISBN 99927-801-3-4
    .
  7. ^ a b c Apollon Baçe, Aleksandër Meksi, Emin Riza, Gjerak Karaiskaj, Pirro Thomo - Historia e Arkitekturës Shqiptare (History of Albanian Architecture - pages 87-88 (in Albanian)) Publisher: Ministria e Arsimit dhe e Kulturës, Instituti i Monumenteve të Kulturës, Tirana 1980
  8. ^ Gazeta STANDARD, March 31, 2010 Dhunë arkeologjike! (in Albanian)[permanent dead link] by Artur Ajazi
  9. ^ Shehu, Qazim (25 December 2011). "Loja e imazheve në fillin e së bukurës - Shënime për librin "Katër shekuj para Krishtit" të Ferik Ferrës" (PDF). Gazeta 55. 15 (4785): 24. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-01-31. Retrieved 2012-03-21. Tek Ferik Ferra e bukura vjen si një veçori tjetër, si jehonë sugjestionuese e perceptimit kulturor të shekujve, si rezistencë e genit etnik përcjellë përmes imazheve e kontrapunktve të befasishme... Bukuroshja e Durrësit është poezia bërthamë në këtë ideshtjellim e cila manifestohet si poezi e mahnitjes poetike
  10. ISBN 978-9928109101
    .
  11. ^ Durres International Film Summerfest – Awards 2010
  12. ^ Gëzim Kabashi (May 13, 2010). "Durrës: Suedezët e "Hap e mbyll kutitë", Në Festivalin e Dancit Modern (in Albanian)". Lajme.gen.al. Retrieved 21 March 2012.
  13. ^ HERMES NEWS Bukuroshja e Durresit vjen perseri nga artisti i mermerit, Isa Shuaipi (in Albanian) June 10, 2009
  14. ^ Adriatik Hotel ***** Durrës Restaurant "Bukuroshja e Durrësit" Archived 2011-03-16 at the Wayback Machine
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