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The Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg 's exhibition, "Antioch Reclaimed: Ancient Mosaics at the MFA," (closing Aug. 22) presents the famed 1930s excavation of the ancient city of Antioch through rare documents, artifacts, and the exquisite mosaics that were discovered during the archaeological dig. Image: Roman, Antioch, Mosaic pavement from "The House of the Drinking Contest" (detail), c. AD 200—300, Stone Tesserae, Museum purchase, Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg.

"Antioch Reclaimed: Ancient Mosaics at the MFA" features five mosaic pavements from the MFA's collection that underwent an extensive conservation and preservation process. Dating from the 2nd to the 5th centuries AD, they were acquired from Princeton University in 1964, one year before the museum's opening. MFA, St. Petersburg is the only arts institution in Florida with mosaics from ancient Antioch in its collection.

Princeton University Art Museum has lent major works from its collection to "Antioch Reclaimed: Ancient Mosaics at the MFA." Archival documents from the legendary dig are also on loan from the Princeton Archives.

Visitors to "Antioch Reclaimed: Ancient Mosaics at the MFA" can explore vintage photographs, letters, telegrams, journals and find cards, a guest book and drawings from the excavation of Antioch, which took place from 1933-1939.

"Antioch Reclaimed: Ancient Mosaics at the MFA" includes newly-discovered film footage that shows the excavation of the Greco-Roman city in progress, and actual lifting of the mosaics from their original locations. The archival documents and film have never been seen before outside of Princeton.

Three of the five mosaics in "Antioch Reclaimed: Ancient Mosaics at the MFA" were recovered from under the east lawn of the MFA, St. Petersburg in 2018, which resulted in the creation of an outdoor conservation lab at the museum that allowed the community to observe the process. The exhibition is the second phase of a three-phase project for the mosaics. In the last phase, all five mosaics will be installed in the MFA's Membership Garden.

The dig resulted in the discovery of the city center of Antioch and its wealthy suburbs, where all the MFA's mosaics were discovered covering the floors of elegant private villas. Enlarged excavation photographs of the homes where the MFA's mosaics were located are featured in "Antioch Reclaimed: Ancient Mosaics at the MFA." This design creates an immersive experience for the viewer, imparting an historical context and a sense of scale, place, and time.

"Antioch Reclaimed: Ancient Mosaics at the MFA" is curated by MFA Senior Curator of Early Western Art Michael Bennett, Ph.D. and Andrea De Giorgi, Ph.D., associate professor of Classics at Florida State University, and one of the leading scholars of ancient Antioch in America.

"Antioch Reclaimed: Ancient Mosaics at the MFA" also profiles Antioch's foundational role in ushering in the Christian church, as the old pagan gods were slowly fading into the past.

"Antioch Reclaimed: Ancient Mosaics at the MFA" also features a time-lapse video revealing how three of the MFA's mosaics were unearthed at the museum, and how all five were conserved and installed in the exhibition. "There has been such a deep and genuine interest from the public for our mosaics," MFA Executive Director and CEO Kristen A. Shepherd said. "Now we can all truly embrace them and their exciting journey with this one-of-a-kind exhibition that seams together the connection between archaeology and art history."