MFA Executive Director Kristen Shepherd admired one
of the museum’s three mosaics during the opening of
the “Antioch Reclaimed: Ancient Mosaics at the MFA”
project’s outdoor conservation laboratory.
lab, while the fifth is on display in the
museum’s Great Hall. 9
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Museum of Fine
Arts, St. Petersburg in conjunction with the
University of South Florida Brewing Arts
program and local breweries will celebrate the
ancient mosaics with “Beer Project” events July
19th and 20th at the MFA. Call (727) 937-0686
or visit mfastpete.org/event/beer-project
for beer event tickets and information. Call
(727) 896-2667 to donate to the “Antioch
Reclaimed: Ancient Mosaics at the MFA”
project.
This 1930s photograph shows the mosaic floor in
the remains of an opulent villa from 100 to 300 A.D.
called House of the Drinking Contest in the Greek-
Roman city of Antioch before its 1930s excavation by
Princeton University.
Director Kristen Shepherd, who has
fond childhood memories of the mosaic
in the garden’s fountain, and its Senior
Curator of Early Western Art Dr. Michael
Bennett understood the importance of
the mosaics and pursued their recovery
and restoration through the “Antioch
Reclaimed: Ancient Mosaics at the MFA”
project. If you visit the museum, you will
be able to watch the reclamation process
in the outdoor conservation laboratory
until its completion in a few months. At
the time of this writing, four of the mosaics
are undergoing restoration in the outdoor
JULY/AUGUST 2018 | TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE 141
other destructive forces try to erase history
and the significant works of art and culture
that reflect it. Following their restoration,
the mosaics are scheduled to be featured
in a temporary exhibit in the fall of 2020,
along with the MFA’s extensive collection
of Greco-Roman art, before being placed
on permanent view in the museum. They
will join the MFA’s over 20,000 permanent
works that highlight and showcase the
artistic talents, lifestyles and diversities of
cultures throughout our world’s history.
The MFA and the Tampa Bay area are
fortunate that the museum’s Executive
Excavation of two large ancient mosaic slabs that
were buried in 1989 behind the Museum of Fine Arts,
St. Petersburg, began in March of this year after careful
probing revealed a corner of one of them.
Meticulous restoration and cleaning has allowed the
MFA’s ancient mosaic flooring fragments such as this one
that was previously on view in the MFA’s Membership
Garden to regain much of their original splendor.
GRAM GRAM
ST. CATE FINE ARTS ANTIOCH EXPEDITION ARCHIVES, DEPARTMENT OF ART AND ARCHEOLOGY, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY