The Mosaic of the Doves was a figurative panel (emblema) located at the center of a mosaic floor depicted with simplified motifs. An astragal decoration frames the panel representing on the edge of a bronze vase. One of the doves is drinking from the vase. Under the handle, a figure in relief seems to sustain the dove. It is a Hadrianic copy of an original created by Sosos, an artist who worked in Pergamon in the 2nd century B.C. Paleochristian art transformed the dove into a symbol of the soul that draws from the fountain of salvation. The skillfully composed minute polychromatic tesserae (of marble and glass) create an astonishing pictorial effect.