Wall paintings through the ages: the roman period—Republic and early Empire

This paper is devoted to wall painting in the Middle Ages (ca. late fifth to early fifteenth centuries), with a focus on twelfth to fifteenth century Italy. It is conceived as a critical conflation of diverse methodologies, approaches and research tools, with the aim of investigating the topic from different and complementary perspectives. Historical textual sources provide the interpretive framework for the examination, which is conducted on specific, yet interrelated aspects. Special attention is paid to technical features, including the methods and materials used to produce wall paintings. Data from scientific investigations are incorporated into the discussion with the purpose of elucidating theoretical conceptualizations with material pieces of evidence. A number of selected case studies is presented within the text in order to keep the focus of analysis on the materiality of the paintings, hence avoiding the formulation of abstract concepts in favour of more pragmatic approaches.

Section: Premisementioning

confidence: 91%

Wall paintings through the ages: the medieval period (Italy, twelfth to fifteenth century)

Мурат

2021

“…The second group of contributions is focused on pigments, starting from a philological essay on terminology (Becker 2021). Three archaeological reviews on prehistoric (Domingo Sanz and Chieli 2021), Roman (Salvadori and Sbrolli 2021), and Medieval (Murat 2021) wall paintings clarify the archaeological framework. A series of archaeometric reviews illustrate the state of the art of the studies carried out on Fe-based red, yellow, and brown ochres (Mastrotheodoros et al forthcoming);, Cu-based greens and blues (Švarcová et al 2021);,…”

Section: Premisementioning

confidence: 99%

Mortars and plasters—how to manage mortars and plasters conservation

Caroselli

Ruffolo

Piqué

2021

The use of mortars and plasters has been widespread in many cultures for thousands of years and these materials are found in the vast majority of built cultural heritage. They play a crucial role in the preservation of immovable heritage and must be taken into great consideration when conserving historical buildings. Plasters and mortars have been extensively studied from a chemical and mineralogical point of view. The main causes and mechanisms of damage and deterioration are understood and various methods and materials have been developed for their preservation. Treatment development, testing and evaluation in the laboratory, under controlled conditions, has produced a high level of knowledge. However, there is a divergence between the results of academic-scientific studies and practice in the field. Laboratory studies typically tackle only a few variables at the time and the results cannot always be directly applied to address the complex problems that restorers face in their daily work practice. In addition, in situ conservation-restoration is extremely challenging because many of large number of variables involved cannot be controlled or modified. Following a description of the ideal “value-based” conservation process, this compilation work discusses aspects related to understanding deterioration mechanisms and planning of preventive and remedial interventions in a way that may be useful to update conservators-restorers on the status of scientific research in this field, and to guide conservation-scientists to identify unresolved issues, which require future research efforts.

“…The second group of contributions is focused on pigments, starting from a philological essay on terminology (Becker 2021). Three archaeological reviews on prehistoric (Domingo Sanz and Chieli 2021), Roman (Salvadori and Sbrolli 2021) and Mediaeval (Murat 2021) wall paintings clarify the archaeological and historical/cultural framework. A series of archaeometric reviews illustrate the state of the art of the studies carried out on Fe-based red, yellow and brown ochres (Mastrotheodoros et al 2021); Cu-based greens and blues (Švarcová et al 2021); As-based yellows and reds (Gliozzo and Burgio 2021); Pb-based whites, reds, yellows and oranges (Gliozzo and Ionescu 2021); Hg-based red and white (Gliozzo 2021) and organic pigments (Aceto 2021).…”

Section: Premisementioning

confidence: 99%

Production, transport and on-site organisation of Roman mortars and plasters

DeLaine

2021

This paper examines the role of mortars and plasters in the construction process during the Roman period and seeks to elucidate the chaîne opératoire from the production of the main ingredients — lime and aggregate — to their application in structures, based on archaeological, visual and archaeometric data. As well as looking at the actual processes involved, it also considers the functional requirements of the mortars and plasters and the economic implications of their use, especially the nature and cost of transport, which may have led to particular choices being made by Roman builders; it also considers the supply of materials in terms of the logistics of construction. The emphasis is on mortared rubble construction, which was a particular development of the Roman period from the second century BCE and required much larger quantities of lime than previous building techniques. Attention is also paid to the human actions involved and the tools employed.