Tunisian Mosaics

Tunisian Mosaics PDF Author: Aïcha Ben Abed Ben Khader
Publisher: Getty Publications
ISBN: 9780892368570
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 148

Book Description
As the Roman Empire expanded its African settlements in the early centuries of the common era, thousands of mosaic floor pavements were fashioned to adorn the townhouses and rural estates of the African upper classes. Between the second and sixth centuries, mosaic art blossomed, particularly in Africa Proconsularis, the region comprising modern Tunisia. In contrast to the official art of imperial Rome, mosaics generally expressed the worldviews of private citizens. These artworks are remarkable for the intricate beauty of their polychromatic geometric and floral designs, as well as for figural scenes depicting the interests and activities of the patrons who commissioned them--scenes of daily life, athletic contests, gladiator spectacles, and classical literature and mythology. Abundantly illustrated throughout, Tunisian Mosaics: Treasures from Roman Africa offers the general reader a lively introduction to this extraordinary ancient art. Initial chapters survey the historical background of Roman Africa and discuss the development of mosaic art in the Mediterranean. Subsequent chapters profile Tunisia's major mosaic sites and tour the collections of important museums. A final chapter surveys current initiatives to preserve this heritage for future generations.

Stories in Stone

Stories in Stone PDF Author: Aïcha Ben Abed Ben Khader
Publisher: Getty Publications
ISBN: 0892368039
Category : Mosaics, Roman
Languages : en
Pages : 206

Book Description
Between the second and the sixth centuries of the common era, elaborate mosaics were designed and created to pave the floors of town homes and rural estates of the Roman settlements in North Africa. These stunning mosaics were especially widespread in the colony of Africa Proconsularis, modern-day Tunisia, and covered a wide range of subject matter: from scenes of daily life and classical mythology, to abstract floral and geometric designs of rare vibrancy and complexity. A distinctive African style emerged, whose influence would extend throughout the Mediterranean basin and beyond. This catalogue is being published to coincide with an exhibition at the J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Villa from October 26, 2006, to April 30, 2007--the first major exhibition in the United States solely devoted to ancient mosaics. The twenty-seven mosaics in the exhibition come from Tunisia's leading museums, including the Bardo Museum in Tunis, the Sousse Museum and the El Jem Museum. Stories in Stone is structured around four principal themes--Nature, Theater and Spectacle, Myths and Gods, and Technique--and includes extensive material on mosaic conservation. In addition to color plates of all objects in the exhibit, this catalogue includes nine richly illustrated essays that illuminate the historical background of mosaic art, trace the development of principal themes, and examine the conservation of mosaics both in the museum setting and in situ. Contributors include Taher Ghalia, director of the Bardo Museum; Mongi Ennaifer, minister of cultural affairs, Tunisia; Thomas Roby, senior project specialist, Getty Conservation Institute; and Jerry Podany, head of antiquities conservation, J. Paul Getty Museum.

Mosaics of the Greek and Roman World

Mosaics of the Greek and Roman World PDF Author: Katherine M. D. Dunbabin
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521002301
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 412

Book Description
This book provides a comprehensive account of mosaics in the ancient world from the early pebble mosaics of Greece to the pavements of Christian churches in the East. Separate chapters in Part I cover the principal regions of the Roman Empire in turn, in order to bring out the distinctive characteristics of their mosaic workshops. Questions of technique and production, of the role of mosaics in architecture, and of their social functions and implications are treated in Part II. The book discusses both well-known works and recent finds, and balances consideration of exceptional masterpieces against standard workshop production. Two main lines of approach are followed throughout: first, the role of mosaics as a significant art form, which over an unbroken span illuminates the evolution of pictorial style better than any comparable surviving medium; and secondly, their character as works of artisan production closely linked to their architectural context.

Mosaics as History

Mosaics as History PDF Author: G. W. Bowersock
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674022928
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 184

Book Description
In the past century, exploration and serendipity have uncovered mosaic after mosaic in the Near East—maps, historical images and religious scenes constituting a treasure of new testimony from antiquity. In them, Bowersock finds historical evidence, illustrations of literary and mythological tradition, religious icons, and monuments to civic pride.

The Boxford Mosaic

The Boxford Mosaic PDF Author: Anthony Beeson
Publisher: Countryside Books (GB)
ISBN: 9781846743924
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages :

Book Description
This fascinating full-color book tells the complete story behind the most spectacular and innovative Roman mosaic ever found in Britain. The Boxford Mosaic, dating from around 350AD, is one of just three mosaics of its kind in the world - a masterpiece of Roman artistry and a beautifully preserved link to the past. Yet it lay hidden beneath a field in Boxford, England, for some 1,600 years until is was fully uncovered in the summer of 2019. The book reveals the inside story of its rediscovery, excavation and the myths depicted on it.

Mosaics of Zeugma

Mosaics of Zeugma PDF Author: Mehmet Önal
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Design
Languages : en
Pages : 76

Book Description

The Bible in Christian North Africa

The Bible in Christian North Africa PDF Author: Jonathan P. Yates
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 311049261X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 624

Book Description
This second volume delves into the intricate dynamics that surrounded the use of Scripture by North African Christians from the late-fourth to the mid-seventh century CE. It focuses on the multivalent ways in which Scripture was incorporated into the fabric of ecclesial existence and theological reflection, as well as on Scripture’s role in informing and supporting these Christians’ decision-making processes. This volume also highlights the intricate theological and philosophical deliberations that were carried out between and among influential North African Christian leaders and scholars—in diverse cultural and geopolitical settings—while paying attention to the complex manner in which these Scripture-laden discourses intersected the wide variety of religious opinions and ecclesiastical and/or theological movements that so clearly marked this region in this era.

Ritual Sites and Religious Rivalries in Late Roman North Africa

Ritual Sites and Religious Rivalries in Late Roman North Africa PDF Author: Shira L. Lander
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 131694316X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 298

Book Description
In Ritual Sites and Religious Rivalries in Late Roman North Africa, Lander examines the rhetorical and physical battles for sacred space between practitioners of traditional Roman religion, Christians, and Jews of late Roman North Africa. By analyzing literary along with archaeological evidence, Lander provides a new understanding of ancient notions of ritual space. This regard for ritual sites above other locations rendered the act or mere suggestion of seizing and destroying them powerful weapons in inter-group religious conflicts. Lander demonstrates that the quantity and harshness of discursive and physical attacks on ritual spaces directly correlates to their symbolic value. This heightened valuation reached such a level that rivals were willing to violate conventional Roman norms of property rights to display spatial control. Moreover, Roman Imperial policy eventually appropriated spatial triumphalism as a strategy for negotiating religious conflicts, giving rise to a new form of spatial colonialism that was explicitly religious.

The Mosaics of Roman Crete

The Mosaics of Roman Crete PDF Author: Rebecca J. Sweetman
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107018404
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 401

Book Description
This book examines the rich corpus of mosaics created in Crete during the Roman and Late Antique eras. It provides essential information on the style, iconography, and chronology of the material, as well as discussion of the craftspeople who created them and the technologies they used. The contextualized mosaic evidence also reveals a new understanding of Roman and Late Antique Crete. It helps shed light on the processes by which Crete became part of the Roman Empire, its subsequent Christianization, and the pivotal role the island played in the Mediterranean network of societies during these periods. This book provides an original approach to the study of mosaics and an innovative method of presenting a diachronic view of provincial Cretan society.
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