The "mosaic of the good shepherd" originally decorated the floor of a room located in an area of the palace built around the 4th century.
The rooms in this wing of the palace were for official purposes and for this reason were richly decorated with floor mosaics and polychrome marble, which are unfortunately largely missing as they were reused for other constructions in later centuries.
The name of the mosaic is related to the main subject of the work, a young man leaning on a long staff beside two sheep.
The boy is not thought to depict Christ, often referred to as the "good shepherd," because the mosaic completely lacks sacred elements such as a halo. Nor does it seem it could be the character from Greek mythology Orpheus, who enchanted animals by playing music, because although a flute is hanging from a tree branch, Orpheus was usually surrounded by wild animals and not docile sheep.
Instead, the subject could represent the wisdom of the owner seen as a good steward who protects and cares for others, just as a good shepherd does with his flock.
This self-aggrandizing theme would find confirmation in the shape of the two trees placed on either side of the boy, which, together with the two blue birds positioned above, seem to form an arc around him.
As you gaze at the work, pause to admire the attention to detail employed to reproduce the shepherd's clothing: the short tunic, shoes, cloak, large dark eyes, and short hair. The same care and colors – red, pink, light blue, and white – were used to make the complex frame where a braid motif surrounds the central subject.
An interesting fact: Several overlapping levels of pavement, all finely decorated, were discovered during excavations. This is because in this area, too, the phenomenon of subsidence was causing the pavement to slowly sink, making it necessary to overlay another layer. The archaeologists then had to choose which mosaics to preserve in this place, and the choice fell on the ones you can see, and they are the most beautiful of all those found. However, the other mosaics have been restored and some are on display at the Classis Museum.
