Patrons and viewers : Reading mosaics in Late Antiquity

The article focusses on the donors of mosaic pavements and how these patrons (often euergetes) present themselves to the viewer (the spectators) – with both portraits and inscriptions. A few literary sources throw light upon the importance of embellishment and the status of the patron, and most important is the description by Procopius of the paintings in a public building in ancient Gaza during the late 5th or early 6th century A.D. A few literary sources make clear that this should also be expected in mosaic floors, and the article investigates the self-portraits of donors in the mosaics of churches of the Near East as at Kifissum, Umm er-Rasas, and Gerasa, as well as in the non- religious ‘private’ contexts like that of the mosaic floor from Smirat, the Julius Dominus mosaic from Carthage, and mosaics of the sepulchral sphere. The donor may also present himself through inscriptions in mosaics in both religious and private contexts, as for instance in the elaborate inscriptions in the Basilica of Thyrsos at Tegea, the House of Charidemos in Halikarnassos, and at Sheikh Zouède.