Photos of the Bardo Museum Byzantine Mosaic Art Tunis

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Photos of the Bardo Museum Byzantine Mosaic Art, Tunis. Includes Early Christian Mosaics & Walk in Fonts. Photos by photographer Paul E Williams.  (TIP – use the icons below the slideshow for thumbnail photos and info)

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Photos of the Bardo Museum Byzantine Mosaic Early Christian Art, Tunis

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Photos of Roman Byzantine Christian Mosaics housed at the Bardo Museum Tunis.

Bardo Museum Early Christian Mosaics

The Bardo National Museum in Tunis houses an important collection of Roman Byzantine early Christian funerary mosaics and walk in baptismal fonts.

Christianity in North Africa

The importance of North Africa as an important centre of early Christianity is often overlooked. Western history has ignored the Roman Byzantine Empire largely thanks to Edward Gibbon negative take on what he saw as immoral Roman Byzantine Emperors.

The early Christian church started in the Eastern Mediterranean and many fine examples of early Christian art come from these areas.

One of the most important fathers of the Catholic Church who helped shape the development of Western Christianity was St Augustin. He came from Hippo Regius in Roman North Africa (present day Algeria).

The preservation of Christian Art

North Africa was one of the heartlands of early Christianity up until it fell to Islam in the 6th century. Many churches were converted to mosques and their art either destroyed of painted over.

Many other churches in North African were abandoned and fell into ruin. It is these church sites that early Roman Byzantine Christian mosaics have been found.

The style of Early Christian Mosaics

The Roman Byzantine Christian mosaics at the Bardo date from the 5th century. Compared to the great mosaics being made in Roman Tunisia 2 centuries earlier, these early Christian mosaics are a lot lower standard. This suggests that either the Roman Empire is declining by this time and the standard of the craftsmen in dropping or, the early Christians didi not have the money to pay for the best mosaic artists.

People are depicted in these mosaics wearing simple clothes which suggests that these early Christians were not ostentatious people and these mosaics were from poorer peoples graves.

Walk In Fonts

There are recurring symbols used in the mosaics. The walk in font mosaics from Dougga have depictions of lit candles. These represent eternal life and lit candles are used in many of the mosaics.

Birds are common in many of the mosaics possibly inferring that the deceased soul has flown to heaven.

There is a simple beauty in these early Christian mosaics that contrasts with the flamboyant Roman mosaics that preceded them.