Framing Late Antique Texts as Monuments: The Tabula Ansata between Sculpture and Mosaic

Abstract

This paper explores the symbolism of the tabula ansata (“tablet-with-handles”), a popular frame for monumental donor inscriptions in the Roman period. While patrons continued to use this form to frame texts in late antiquity, changing mediums affected how patrons conceived of and how audiences interpreted the meaning and significance of the frame. This paper discusses the origins of the tabula form and focuses on three Late Antique examples of the tabula in Italy, Greece, and Jordan that adapted variants of the Roman form, clarifying how transformations in material impacted the form’s function as a sign for “monumentality.”

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