This paper aims at presenting an overview of Roman wall painting production between late Republic and the early Empire. It will focus on the technique and style of in situ wall paintings from the Vesuvian area (Italy). Frescoes are indeed an integral part of architecture and reflect the patrons’ ambitions and social level as well as the craftsmen’s technical know-how. Since this is a handicraft product, the quality of materials, the craftsmen’s skills and the technique are fundamental to understand the fresco’s value and the message that the patron wished to communicate through the use of elaborate schemes, expensive colours or certain mythological themes.

The paper reports the results of a research project aimed at the characterization of the floor bedding mortars of two Roman houses in Aquileia (north-eastern Italy), the Domus delle Bestie Ferite and the Domus di Tito Macro. Seventy floor bedding mortars of the two domus were selected and almost half were fully minero-petrographically characterized by means of optical microscopy operated in transmitted light (OM-TL), X-ray powder diffraction analyses coupled with quantitative phase analysis by means of the Rietveld method (XRPD-QPA) and scanning electron microscopy with EDS microanalysis (SEM-EDS). The results indicate an evolution of the mortar preparation techniques over time in the mosaic of both houses. The materials are compared to the traditional Roman recipes for specific construction techniques.

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