Abstract
The recent discovery of the Sphinx Room, belonging to the Domus Aurea Esquiline wing, thanks to the framework given by the project “Non-destructive analytical studies at Parco Archeologico del Colosseo (Rome, Italy)”, allowed to perform an analytical campaign, both in situ and on micro-fragments. The first aim was to contribute to the overall comprehension of the Domus Aurea complex and to contextualize the newly-discovered room inside this extraordinary imperial architecture by means of an archaeometrical characterisation of the painting materials. The palette, composed of Egyptian blue, green earths, iron- and lead-based red, orange and yellow, calcite, carbon-based black, allowed to compare the Sphinx Room to Corridor 92 and Room 114 of Domus Aurea and to other sites in Rome. Furthermore, the employ of an organic binder in some spots can be put forward based on spectroscopic results, which does not exclude a wider use of the a fresco. Furthermore, a complementary methodological strategy was designed, in order to achieve a complete characterization of the materials. In addition to the well-known combination of portable X-ray fluorescence and portable/laboratory Raman analyses, Infrared Fourier Transform Spectroscopy was used, both in situ (Diffuse Reflectance) and in the lab (Attenuated Total Reflectance). The results confirm the suitability of this approach for the characterization of Roman wall paintings, where both inorganic and organic materials are simultaneously present.
Highlights
Nero’s (37–68 AD) Domus Aurea was an enormous complex extending on the Palatine, Caelium and Esquiline hills
Portable instrumentation Elemental analysis—portable X‐ray Fluorescence In Table 1 the results of in situ pXRF analyses are reported by color (the term greyish encompasses a variety of dull green to blue shades, present in the leaves and the swirl under the central figure of the vault (Fig. 4a) and the festoon, Sphinx and temple on the North wall (Fig. 4b))
This work leads to relevant conclusions both on the methodological and on the archaeological point of view on the analysis of Roman wall paintings, both in situ and on fragments in the lab
Summary
Nero’s (37–68 AD) Domus Aurea was an enormous complex extending on the Palatine, Caelium and Esquiline hills. It was built after the fire of 64 AD by Severus and Celer, and decorated by the famous painter Fabullus ([1] XXXV, 120). Preexisting structures were included in the construction, such as Claudian epoch horrea (warehouses, granaries) on the slopes of the Esquiline Hill (Oppium Mons).
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