The Bardo Museum

With its unparalled collection of mosaics, the Bardo Museum is sometimes likened to the Louvre for its breadth and quality. Most of the mosaics were commissioned between the 2nd and 4th centuries AD to adorn the sumptuous villas of wealthy citizens throughout Tunisia. The rooms of the Bardo are named after the places from which the mosaics were found - such as the Dougga Room, Bulla Regia Room, and so on. Like the Louvre, trying to see and fully appreciate all the pieces can be overwhelming if not impossible.

In addition to the fine mosaics, the Bardo Museum also has sections covering the Punic, early Christian, and Islamic periods. The architecture of the palace itself is worthy of attention. I kept finding myself looking up at the ceilings. The Virgil Room architecture is particularly beautiful, complementing its star attraction.

The Bardo Museum is located about 4 km from the Tunis city center, in the suburb of Bardo. It occupies the former Bardo Palace, official residence of the Husseinite beys. The present palace was built at the end of the 17th century and became a museum in 1888.

The Triumph of Neptune (detail). La Chebba (near Sfax), late 2nd century

Early Christian Tunisia

To the left of the entrance is the Early Christian room. In the middle of the room is the unusual baptismal font. The walls are covered with funeral mosaics from early churches. One mosaic from Tabarka shows the layout of an early church, giving archaeologists a good idea of what Tunisian churches looked like. Some of the mosaic sarcophagi were of children. A short corridor has a collection of small terracotta tiles used to decorate early churches.

6th century cruciform baptismal font

Roman Mosaics

Tunisa can rightfully boast about the number and quality of its Roman mosaics - with many more still to be discovered. During the 2nd and 3rd centuries, the region became wealthy from its trade in wheat and olive oil. A wide variety of colored stones (including marble) were available, providing the raw material for the talented artists. Diverging from original Italian influences, the Tunisian mosaics began to develop their own distinct style by the middle of the 2nd century. To this day, El Jem is still a mosaic-producing place. Due to Tunisia's relatively warm and dry climate, mosaics have generally been well preserved. While traveling to places such as Oudna, I saw nearly perfectly intact mosaics just recently uncovered. Some argue that the mosaics should stay in situ to enable viewers to appreciate the space and location, while others believe that the placement of mosaics in museums enable the mosaics to be preserved and more easily viewed by more people.

Favorite subjects of the mosaics include mythological stories, everyday life, amphitheatre games, the sea, and hunting. Many of the mosaics have decorative frameworks which can be just as stunning as the pictures themselves. Some of the mosaics are placed on the floor (most you can walk over), while others are on the walls. Scale ranges from the entire floorspace or wall, to the tiny microtesserae.

The Getty Center has a wonderful exhibition Stories in Stone which focuses on the conservation of the mosaics of Roman Tunisia. Flash is required.

Ulysses mosaic (detail). Dougga, 4th century

Virgil Mosaic. Sousse, 3rd century

The exquisite mosaic of the poet Virgil is the one of the Bardo's star pieces

Virgil Mosaic (detail)

The mosaic is so detailed that the inscription of the eighth line of the Aeneid is readable.

Hunting the Wild Boar. 4th century

Hunting scenes are a common theme, highly prized by the rich Africans of the 3rd-5th centuries. A large variety of game is represented, possibly indicating what the wildlife in Tunisia was at that time

Sculptures

Punic clay funeral mask, Carthage- around 7th century BC

These contorted faces were intended to ward off evil spirits away from the dead

Grave markers of sacrificed children. Punic

Learn more about the Punic society in Carthage and Kerkouane

Architecture

Painted ceiling of the Oudna Room, the palace's former dining room

Islamic fountain in central courtyard

The Carthage Room displays a fine collection of sculptures from Carthage, in addition to a large well-preserved floor mosaic.