From Wilderness to Paradise presents an in-depth study of the large mosaic pavement in the East Church at Qasr el-Lebia in Cyrenaica, Libya. The pavement, which survives almost in its entirety, consists of fifty panels, each containing a different image. Despite being described as ‘the finest and most interesting set of Christian mosaics yet found in Libya’ (Illustrated London News, December 1957), subsequent studies have generally dismissed the pavement as a random selection of images with no symbolic meaning and no overarching scheme. This book argues that the remarkably rich and complex mosaic should be understood as a coherent whole.
A discussion about reading imagery in Late Antiquity precedes a meticulous iconographical study. Within the pavement’s overall coherence, the grid layout allows the panels to be read in different directions, rather like a crossword puzzle, their meaning shifting with each change of focus. Particular attention is paid to small groups of images related either by subject matter or location, and the discussion shows how the placement of certain panels impacts the surrounding imagery, giving meaning over and above the significance of individual motifs. The iconographical study concludes by considering the mosaic from the viewpoint of those moving across the pavement and the phenomenological responses this interaction may have elicited. It suggests that as the images passed fleetingly underfoot, a journey unfurled and one was led from a chaotic oceanic wilderness in the east, to a more orderly paradisiacal world further west.
H 290 x W 205 mm
168 pages
166 figures (colour throughout)
Published Mar 2024
ISBN
Paperback: 9781803277301
Digital: 9781803277318
Contents
1. Introduction
Overview of the Mosaics
The Large Mosaic Pavement
Pavements in the Northeast Annex and Sanctuary
Northeast Annex
Sanctuary
Dating
2. Cyrenaica
Geographical Context
Christianity in Cyrenaica
The Archaeological Site at Qasr el-Lebia
West Church
East Church
3. Reading the Mosaic Pavement
Imagery and Literature in Late Antiquity
Varietas
Layout of the pavement
4. Iconographic Analysis
Ocean and Nile
Personifications - Kosmesis, Ktitis and Ananeosis
The Rivers of Paradise
Kastalia and the Eagle
A Musician, a Leopard and a Satyr
Architectural Representations
Two-by-Two
5. Overall Programme
The Journey: Wilderness to Paradise
Wilderness
Paradise
6. Architectural Setting and Hypotheses
Architectural Setting
Hypothesis 1: The Large Mosaic as the Pavement of part of an Episcopium
Hypothesis 2: The Large Pavement as Part of a Baptismal Complex
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index
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