The mosaic of Theodoulos from Sousse (Tunisia) - article ; n°1 ; vol.16, pg 229-239

ANTIQUITES_AFRICAINES - David Parrish

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Antiquités africaines - Année 1980 - Volume 16 - Numéro 1 - Pages 229-239
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Source : Persée ; Ministère de la jeunesse, de l’éducation nationale et de la recherche, Direction de l’enseignement supérieur, Sous-direction des bibliothèques et de la documentation.

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Publié par	ANTIQUITES_AFRICAINES
Publié le	01 janvier 1980
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David Parrish
The mosaic of Theodoulos from Sousse (Tunisia)
In: Antiquités africaines, 16,1980. pp. 229-239.
Citer ce document / Cite this document :
Parrish David. The mosaic of Theodoulos from Sousse (Tunisia). In: Antiquités africaines, 16,1980. pp. 229-239.
doi : 10.3406/antaf.1980.1066
http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/antaf_0066-4871_1980_num_16_1_1066.
Antiquités africaines
t. 16, 1980, p. 229-239
THE MOSAIC OF THEODOULOS FROM SOUSSE
(TUNISIA)
by
David PARRISH
The Mosaic of Theodoulos ' holds special interest as one of the best known, yet least discussed,
examples of later North African pavement art (fig. 1). This mosaic, which comes from Sousse, Tunisia,
and is now located in the Archaeological Museum in that city 2, forms an unusual variation of a type of
paradisial imagery common to both pagan and Christian art, whose precise meaning in the Theodoulos
pavement has never been satisfactorily explained. There is also uncertainty about this mosaic's date, for
although the majority of scholars have assigned it to the Byzantine era, or sixth century A.D. 3, there
is evidence for extending the range of possible dates to the period of the fifth to mid-sixth centuries. In
what follows, I shall consider each of these issues and provide a close description of the Theodoulos Mosaic.
It is hoped that the results of this analysis will shed new light on this work of art and on related pavements
of the North African corpus, which pose similar problems of dating and interpretation.
The nearly-square Mosaic of Theodoulos, which measures approximately 2.30 m. on a side, shows
a centrally-placed gold crater with grapevines and birds, immediately above which appears a palm tree.
At the top of the pavement is the Greek name ΘΕΟΔΟΥΛΟΥ, written in the genitive case. A large gap
occurs in the mosaic's lower right corner, and other, smaller gaps are visible in the field and border. A row
of alternately-reversed lotuses with white tops and striped bases, colored reddish-pink, ochre, and dark
1 Excavated in 1902. See esp. : Gouvet (M.), Séance de la Commission de l'Afrique du Nord, 13 janvier 1903. B.C.T.H.,
1903, p. cxxxix-xl. — Gauckler (P.), Note sur les mosaïstes antiques. M. S.A. F., t. 63, 1904, p. 196, 3°, n° 2; Id, Inventaire
des mosaïques de la Gaule et de l'Afrique, t. 2, Afrique proconsulaire (Tunisie). Paris, 1910, p. 63 and pi. (hereafter cited as Inv.
Tun.) — C.I.L. VIII, 32011 a. — Truillot (Α.), Séance de la Commission de l'Afrique du Nord, 13 novembre 1944. B.C.T.H.,
1944, p. 304-305 — Picard (G.), Une schola de collège à Carthage. Karthago, t. 3, 1951-1952, p. 178, n. 15, 2° — Alexander
(M.), Early Christian Tomb Mosaics of North Africa (diss. New York University, 1958), t. 1, p. 84, 123 and fig. 70 (Hereafter
cited as Alexander) — Cintas (J.) and Duval (N.), L'Eglise du prêtre Félix (région de Kélibia) Karthago, t. 9, 1958, p. 238-
239 and pi. XXXVII, a (Hereafter sections of the article by Duval are cited as Duval, — Foucher (L.), Inventaire des
mosaïques. Feuille n° 57 de l'Atlas archéologique, Sousse. Tunis, 1960, p. 75, n° 57. 164 and pi. XXXVIII ; Id., Hadrumetum.
Tunis, 1960, p. 362 and n. 1486 — Dunbabin (K.), The Mosaics of Roman North Africa. Oxford, 1978, p. 169, n. 174, 193,
n. 29 et col. pi. F.
2 Mus. Inv. no. 57. 164 ; Sousse is ancient Hadrumetum.
3 Gauckler {supra n. 1) p. 196, n. 5 — Picard (supra n. 1), Loc. cit. — Alexander, t. 1, p. 84 — Duval, Kélibia, p. 239,
— Foucher (supra n. 1, 1960), loc. cit. D. PARRISH 230
Fig. 1 . — Mosaic of Theodoulos, overall view.
green-olive and separated by a wavy white ribbon, frames the field. The border curves inward at the lower
left to skirt the well-head of a cistern, over which the pavement was originally laid 1. Unfortunately, the
function of the building which this mosaic decorated is unknown.
Several details of this pavement image are noteworthy (fig. 2). The tall crater has a distinctive form,
characterized by a sharply-receding belly decorated with a narrow band, a flaring mouth, S-shaped handles,
a low bowl with gadroons, and a sloping base that rises to small points at the sides and is separated from
the bowl by a small knob. Inside the vessel is a minute black and white checkerboard, perhaps representing
liquid. The two symmetrical grapevines rise in pairs of alternately large and small volutes, laden with
bunches of pink, yellowish, and light and dark green grapes, on which some of the birds feed. Starting at
the panel's base and proceeding upward, the volutes contain four pairs of naturalistically colored birds
of the following species : partridges, peacocks, ducks, and pheasants. The partridge on the viewer's left
and the three upper pairs of birds all face inward. The left pheasant is inverted to draw attention to the
adjacent inscription. The right partridge faces outward, perhaps to emphasize visually the majestic peacocks
above. The image of abundance of the grapevines is echoed by the palm tree's clusters of ripe dates.
1 Gouvet (supra n. 1 p. 229), p. cxxxix. The ancient building in which the mosaic was found is now covered by a modern
apartment house, located at no. 8, rue de l'Église. THE MOSAIC OF THEODOULOS 231
Fig. 2. — Mosaic of Theodoulos, detail of left side.
Various motifs in the Theodoulos Mosaic have paradisial associations common to both pagan and
Christian art. One such motif, symbolizing divine abundance and heavenly bliss, is the crater with spread
ing grapevines inhabited by birds. This image occurs, for example, in each of the four corners of a third 232 D. PARRISH
Dionysos' triumph ί . A Christian work of art with century pagan pavement from El Jem, representing
this motif is a late fourth to early fifth century tomb mosaic from Kélibia, which shows a crater with
inhabited vine scrolls supporting a funerary inscription 2.
The heraldic pair of peacocks and crater in the Sousse panel form another distinct paradisial image,
which elsewhere may appear alone 3, but which is subtly woven into the overall floral scheme of the
Theodoulos Mosaic. The peacocks are visually accented in various ways 4, yet occupy plant volutes
like the other birds. In a fourth century pavement from Cherchel 5, the two heraldic peacocks remain
separated from the surrounding grapevines and other animals. By incorporating the of his
mosaic into the grapevines, the Sousse artist created a unified set of four different types of birds. This
particular selection of birds may have no special significance, since each of the species shown forms part
of a common repertory of birds which appear in other North African pavements of paradisial content 6.
Yet the precise combination of birds in the Theodoulos panel is unique, and suggests the possibility
that these animals symbolize the four Seasons. AU of the species represented have associations with the
four Seasons in earlier African mosaics. The various birds are linked with the following Seasons elsewhere :
ducks-Winter ; peacocks-Spring ; partridges-Summer ; and pheasants- Autumn 7. A seasonal interpretation
would perfectly accord with the paradisial theme of the rest of the Theodoulos Mosaic, since the Seasons
themselves have celestial connotations 8. The chief objection to such an interpretation is the lack of other,
corroborative references to the Seasons, such as human or plant symbols, in the same mosaic. The fact
that all the birds in the Sousse example are surrounded by grapes rather than plants representative of the
different times of year makes the situation more doubtful. Nevertheless, because of the precise number
and types of birds shown a seasonal reference remains possible.
The one other motif of paradisial significance in the Theodoulos Mosaic is the palm tree. The palm,
as the crater, can have a meaning in both pagan and Christian art ; the former motif symbolizes
the Tree of Life 9. A pagan example with this association is a Roman tombstone which shows a man and
his wife at a funerary banquet, flanked by a palm tree with ripe fruit 10. Among Early Christian works of
art with paradisial palms are the two apse mosaics in the fourth century church of Santa Costanza in Rome,
1 Yacoub (M.), Le Musée du Bardo. Tunis, 1970, p. 62, Α. 287 and fig. 63. Besides birds, the vines in this pavement
enclose putti, quadrupeds, a satyr and a silene.
2 Duval, Kélibia, p. 187, no. 11 and pi. XVII, b.
3 Cf a fifth century baptistery mosaic form Stobi, Wiseman (J.), and Mano-Zissi (D.), Excavations at Stobi, 1971.
A.J.A., t. 76, 1972, p. 423 and pi. 90, fig. 47.
4 In addition to their heraldic placement alongside the crater, the peacocks are emphasized by their large size, by the
fact that both of these birds feed on bunches of grapes, and by the outward-turned partridge below.
5 Gsell (S.), Antique lol-Caesarea. (Alger, n.d.) p. 102 and fig. on 103.
6 Cf Duval, Kélibia, p. 187, no. 1 1 and pi. XVII, b ; 189, no 16 and pi. XV, b ; 199-200, no 44 and pi. XXIV, a ;
200-201, no. 46 and pi. XVIII, a.
7 All of these birds except Spring's peacock appear as seasonal symbols, identified by plants, in a third century mosaic
from El Jem representing Diana the Huntress and the Seasons, Yacoub (supra n. 1) p. 130, Inv. 2751 and fi