The Bardo Museum in Tunis

The Bardo Museum in Tunis is a beautiful building filled with treasures of art and architecture. This wood-framed doorway gives onto a colonnaded area surrounded by a mezzanine lit by natural light that shows the many and varied works to great advantage.

This remarkable museum contains collections of classical and Islamic art, as well as a vast display of Byzantine, Roman, and Punic mosaics. Many are startlingly well preserved and the artistry draws the viewer into photo-like portrayals of a variety of life scenes. Fishing and hunting, eating and drinking, birds, animals and fish are displayed. Of course, there are also many more stylized portraits of men and gods. Lifelike details include gardens, statues, and fountains. Grape vines and olive trees symbolize wine and oil, the most ancient products of the Mediterranean.


Aicha Ben Abed Ben Khader has created an illustrated book,
Tunisian Mosaics (2006, J. Paul Getty Trust).