'Light from the Age of Augustine' is the kind of exhibition that
draws the viewer into another world. From inanimate objects
designed for household use one is able to discover the continuum of
culture and daily life that made up that world, and from which they,
in turn, made up these long-surviving artifacts. Yet, these
ceramics are not just utilitarian dishes and lamps; they are refined
products of the ancient artisan's craft. Practical and aesthetic
interests blend naturally with religious and cultural ideals. Some
are clearly pagan; others, Christian, while some remain
indistinguishable. They reflect the daily diet of Late Antique
Roman society when the Classical world was beginning to yield to a
burgeoning Christian culture. Their visual representations of
mythological scenes, folk motifs, and biblical narratives come
alive, especially when read in the light of passages from Augustine
of Hippo, the greatest intellectual figure of that age - himself a
product of the very social arena from which the artifacts themselves
come. As a result, these little tidbits of daily life are able to
illuminate a dynamic social and cultural reality, a vivid evocation
of the living world of Roman North Africa in the late fourth and
fifth centuries AD. It is a great pleasure to host this
exhibition at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library and
Museum and to introduce the present catalogue. We invite you, then,
to take this journey with us thanks to the artful and loving work of
Drs. van den Hoek and Herrmann.
Betty Sue Flowers
Director
Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library and Museum
L. Michael White
Ronald Nelson Smith Professor of Classics and
Director of the Institute for the Study of Antiquity & Christian Origins
Austin, Texas
March, 2003