How to catch a tiger.

We spent the afternoon at the Piazza Armerina, a palatial Roman villa, dating from the 3rd century AD. The villa is famous for its superb mosaics, probably the best single group of mosaics in the Roman world still in situ.

A long corridor in the villa is carpeted throughout with a stupendous mosaic known as the Great Hunt showing a wide range of exotic animals including a bull, an elephant, a hippopotamus, a rhino, tigers, leopards, horses goats and ostriches. All are being chased and lured into captivity, destined for the amphitheatre and the games, by men armed with shields and long long javelins.

Towards one end of the mosaic, this tigress seems to be gazing at a small reflection of herself in a mirror of polished metal. One suggestion is that she has mistaken her diminished reflection for her cub (she is clearly lactating with enlarged teats), thus allowing herself to be caught whilst distracted.

A good day out!