Villa del Casale, near Piazza Armerina is the finest and most extensive display of mosaics in the Roman world.
Although many mosaics are being displayed here, the most striking are Fishing Cupids and Hunting Children with Vedic Tilak marks on their forehead.
Ancient Vedic influence on Europe has already been proved and these mosaics add to that.
In the children’s hunt scenes, brave children catch a goat, or try to scare birds like peacock.
The Fishing Mosaics depict children with tilak marks on their forehead, sailing in boat in Cupid avatars.
Piazza Armerina is in central-southern Sicily. The Roman villa was buried by a landslide in the twelfth century and was only fully excavated in the 1950s.
It is now covered by a glass and perspex construction, with raised walkways to guide visitors around the site.
The style is influenced by North African art, both in composition and the choice of colourful polychrome materials.
The bright-coloured marble and other stones would have been imported specially for this luxurious display.
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