Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, Minister of culture and communication, recently announced that a polychrome mosaic dating from the Roman period had been discovered at Villelaure (Vaucluse) during an archaeological evaluation carried out by an Inrap team (Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives).

Promising archaeological probes
The mosaic, which is 1.5m square was found during test trenching and is still largely covered. It is in the centre of the residential sector of a vast agricultural estate on the banks of the Marderic on the site called "La Tuillière", and farmed from the 2nd century A.D. onwards. Other structures such as a long pool with an exedra and the remains of a peristyled courtyard were also found during the evaluation. An adjacent cemetery was also discovered.

The villa, known since the end of the 19th century, had provided, from 1836 to 1900, through accidental discoveries, four monumental panels of mosaics depicting mythological scenes. The first mosaic removed is now in the Musée d'Avignon. The three others were donated to the Académie des Lettres et des Arts du Vaucluse. Watercolour copies were made before these mosaics were sold on the art market. In 1971, one of them were catalogued in the collections of the Getty Museum, Malibu (California), another one is in the Los Angeles Conty Museum. Thanks to the watercolours we have a clear understanding of the stories depicted.

The Avignon mosaic shows an aquatic scene with fish and dolphins and measures 10m2(3.30m x 3.10m). The three others are more original and give some elements which help in their dating.
Egyptian peasants on the banks of the Nile, a scene well known in Italy and Africa, but found here for the first time in Gaul (a theme dating from the reign of Hadrian, 117-138 A.D.).
The Combat between Dares and Entellus (4.73m x 7m), the only mosaic in Gaul on this mythical theme taken from the 5th book of Virgil's Aeneid.
The third one shows Diana and the virgin Callisto, taken from Ovid's