ANALYSIS OF ROMAN WALL PAINTINGS FROM THE THERMAE OF ‘IULIA CONCORDIA’

Abstract

Twenty‐six wall painting fragments and some plaster, ‘intonachino’ and stucco samples, discovered at Iulia Concordia, have been studied by different analytical techniques to gain information about the pigment nature and the composition of the materials. The presence of calcite, dolomite and aragonite allow the distinction of four groups of wall samples varying in the nature of pigments and in the application technique. These differences can be attributed to different execution times or, more probably, to the arrangement of the rooms in the building structure. The nature of the pigments found in the Thermae of Iulia Concordia appears similar to that found in other Roman villas of Venetia et Histria, with the use of precious pigments such as Egyptian blue and cinnabar.

Characterization of Plasters From Ptolemaic Baths: New Excavations Near the Karnak Temple Complex, Upper Egypt*

“…According to Bläuer-Böhm and Jägers (1996), calcium carbonate can also be present in the form of aragonite probably belonging to the binder, if the mortar has reached high temperatures during setting. The existence of aragonite in samples from the Roman age has also been reported by other authors (Mazzocchin et al 2004(Mazzocchin et al , 2006(Mazzocchin et al , 2007(Mazzocchin et al , 2010Duran et al 2010). Aragonite was probably used as a white pigment in Roman age wall paintings because of its higher hiding power, in comparison with calcite (Baraldi et al 2007).…”

“…Aragonite was probably used as a white pigment in Roman age wall paintings because of its higher hiding power, in comparison with calcite (Baraldi et al 2007). The existence of aragonite in samples from the Roman age has also been reported by other authors (Mazzocchin et al 2004(Mazzocchin et al , 2006(Mazzocchin et al , 2007(Mazzocchin et al , 2010Duran et al 2010).…”

“…Aragonite (a rhombic polymorph of CaCO 3 ) is rare, and other carbonate minerals are largely confined to very special deposits such as evaporites or iron formations, or are present as trace minerals (Morse and Mackenzie 1990). Mazzocchin et al (2010) reported that precious white pigments containing large amounts of aragonite were imported from Greece and Egypt in the period of the second century ad. According to Bläuer-Böhm and Jägers (1996), calcium carbonate can also be present in the form of aragonite probably belonging to the binder, if the mortar has reached high temperatures during setting.…”

“…According to Bläuer-Böhm and Jägers (1996), calcium carbonate can also be present in the form of aragonite probably belonging to the binder, if the mortar has reached high temperatures during setting. Mazzocchin et al (2010) reported that precious white pigments containing large amounts of aragonite were imported from Greece and Egypt in the period of the second century ad. Aragonite was probably used as a white pigment in Roman age wall paintings because of its higher hiding power, in comparison with calcite (Baraldi et al 2007).…”

Investigations by Raman microscopy, ESEM and FTIR-ATR of wall paintings from Qasr el-Ghuieta temple, Kharga Oasis, Egypt

“…In general, many studies have been devoted to characterize materials dating back to the Roman age from different sites around the world, some of these materials are pigments [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28], mortars [29][30][31], and plasters [32]. In contract of this, few studies were undertaken to study materials from Ptolemaic and Roman monuments in Egypt [33][34][35][36][37][38].…”