Roman Mosaic Glass Fragment Group

4th century AD and later. A group of three roughly rectangular polychrome fragments comprising: two flying cupid figures holding a square plaque between them; one fragment with less discernible design, possibly a variation on the aforementioned scene with cupids; accompanied by a probably later fragment bearing an image of a standing male figure facing right, bare-chested and holding a shafted weapon, wearing a headband; held in a collector's case with transparent lid. See Donati, A., Gentili, G., Constantino Il Grande, la civilta' Antica al bivio fra Occidente ed Oriente, pp.239-240, items 58 and 60, for very similar motifs to the cupids flanking plaque from a sarcophagus dated 4th century AD. 193 grams total, 11.6 x 11.6 including case (4 1/2 x 4 1/2"). From a central London gallery; previously in the collection of a respected gentleman, assembled 1965-2018. The employment of the mythologic images of winged Erotes in late Roman art, represented as small children, should be connected with early stages of the symbiosis among the symbols of the old Paganism and the elements of the new Christian faith, especially when these iconographies were linked with children's graves. [3]
Condition Report: Fine condition.