|
Natural History Museum
The
Romano-Germanic Museum in Cologne houses a treasure trove of ancient
artifacts.
 Numerous discoveries
depict life in the
Roman city of Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium, which we now know
as Cologne in English and Köln in German. In addition to
artifacts from Cologne, many of those found around other former Roman
settlements and cities, such as Xanten
and Kalkar,
are now housed
here. One of the artifacts
on display is the Philosopher Mosaic which was discovered in 1844
during construction
work at a Cologne hospital. It depicted seven philosophers in all, but
two were missing. Renderings of Plato and Aristotle were then added by
the painter, Kartons of Ramboux. The other five are Diogenes,
Kleobulos, Socrates, Cheilon and Sophocles.
The mosaic was
originally
displayed at the Wallraf-Richartz Museum in 1863. It was severely
damaged during WWII. In 1967, restored, it was installed at the
Romano-Germanic Museum. The Philosopher Mosaic is for some reason less
famous than the Dionysus Mosaic, which is also on display at the museum.
|
|
 |
|
Museum
|
|
Stone artifacts are on display at the Romano-Germanic
museum in Cologne.