Castellani

Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, AN1885.482, for a necklace from 5th century BCE with rosettes.

The rosette motif, with its distinctive floral pattern, holds a prominent place in the art and symbolism of ancient civilizations across Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Greek-Mycenaean world. This motif, believed to represent a wild rose, carries deep cultural and spiritual significance, often linked to concepts of fertility, beauty, divinity, and cosmic order. In the Greek-Mycenaean tradition, the rosette motif was equally widespread, often appearing in jewellery, ceramics, and architectural designs. It is thought to have been a symbol of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, who was known as Venus to the Romans. In this context, the rosette embodied ideals of beauty, love, and femininity, much like the wild rose itself. Rosettes of similar design to the one on this necklace are found on the Phaistos Disc, a fired clay disc which was created in approximately 2nd millennium BC and unearthed in 1903.