Dominus Julius mosaic
The Dominus Julius mosaic is a floor mosaic from Carthage that is located in the National Museum of Bardo in Tunis and is considered to be one of the main works in this museum. It covers an area of 5.65 × 4.50 meters. It is dated to the late 4th century AD.
Surname
The name was given by the scene at the bottom right of the mosaic: a scroll is presented to the master of the house. Alfred Merlin , who published the find, recognized the letters IV and DOM on the document, which he added to IV (lio) DOM (ino). He therefore gave the mosaic the name La mosaïque du Seigneur Julius.
context
The excavator Alfred Merlin gave little information about the find situation. The mosaic therefore comes from a Roman private house in the city center of ancient Carthage. The room adorned with the mosaic had an apse in which a poorly preserved mosaic was found. According to this description, it appears to have been a reception room. In the apse there was probably a dining sofa ( stibadium ). The group that had gathered in this alcove for a meal could enjoy the view of the floor mosaic.
Description of the mosaic
The theme of the mosaic is a large Roman estate , which generates rich profits with the changing of the seasons. In the middle of the mosaic, the estate itself is depicted, which with its surrounding wall and corner towers makes a defensive impression. An arcade runs the full width of the front. The villa's private bathing facility is shown as a group of four domed structures.
Various scenes are grouped around this central motif, in which various agricultural products are brought by farmers or servants to the master and mistress of the estate:
- Above: Ducks, olives and a lamb are presented to the hostess seated in the middle.
- Middle: The gentleman returns to his villa on horseback, while hunters leave the villa on the other side.
- Below: Roses and fish are brought to the mistress; The Lord has taken a seat in his vineyard on an armchair, where grapes, a hare and two water birds are delivered to him, as well as a scroll with his name on it.
The motif of the handover, repeated several times, illustrated that the estate with the people who worked there and all of its agricultural products were completely at the disposal of the owner couple.
North African mosaics dealing with subjects of country life did not represent reality; it was about prestigious foods. Game and poultry were more in the picture than domesticated animals. This also applies to the Dominus Julius mosaic. The change of the seasons is indicated in the mosaic as follows: spring (roses) - summer (flock) - autumn (grapes) - winter (olives).
Web links
literature
- Alfred Merlin: La mosaic du Seigneur Julius à Carthage . In: Bulletin archéologique du Comité des travaux historiques et scientiques (1921), pp. 95–114.
- Katherine MD Dunbabin: Mosaics of the Greek and Roman World . Cambridge University Press 1999. ISBN 978-0-521-00230-1 , pp. 118-120.
- Lisa C. Nevett: Domestic Space in Classical Antiquity . Cambridge University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-521-78336-1 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Alfred Merlin: La mosaque du Seigneur Julius à Carthage . S. 105 .