Tunisia Way

The Roman Era

  Moving forward we find the Roman presence in Tunisia expressed and exhibited in the hundreds of mosaics adorning the walls and floor of the Bardo. Gathered from countless ancient sites these priceless images bear witness to the wealth and prosperity of Roman Tunisia, its gods and goddesses, myths and realities, day to day activities and exuberant festivities. The Sousse Room displays the grandiose Triumph of Neptune, Oudna with an exquisite Venus at her bath, El Jem Room boasting of the Triumph of Baccus and the lovely Nine Muses and certainly the renowned Virgil writing the Eneide, the only known portrait of this great Roman poet, in the room that bears his name. How real are the hunting scenes with the snarling beasts, the richness of the marine mosaics , the sea teeming with life, the bountiful harvests, the brave Ulysses and the proud Diana the Huntress...all brought to life by these unknown masters of the ancient art.

The Christian Era 

The Christian era appears in the mosaics around the later part of the 3rd century, with its themes taken from the Bible and including the symbolism of the New Testament. While the majority of mosaics and statuary are from Carthage, churches and chapels throughout Tunisia were decorated with mosaics and particularly fine images on grave stones. The Early Christian rooms of the Bardo display a mosaic baptismal immersion font in the shape of a Greek cross from a 6th century church in Cap Bon, while a cruciform marble font was found in Djerba.

The Muslim Era

Another page in the long cultural and artistic history of Tunisia is turned as the Bardo Museum brings us the Islamic Art collection, housed in the Hussein Palace. In the exquisitely decorated Harem Room is a collection of rare ancient fabrics and the elegant and harmonious inner courtyard opens to rooms holding a precious collection of medieval Islamic pottery and jewelry as well as beautiful illuminated pages from the sacred texts. Excelling in the decorative arts, finely wrought arabesques and intricate geometric pattern characterize much of Islamic artwork in wood, stucco and brass from the 16th to the 19th centuries.