Nanotechnology in Roman Opaque Red Glass from the 2nd Century AD. Archaeometric Investigation in Red Sectilia from the Decoration of the Lucius Verus Villa in Rome

Mario Bandiera,Patrice Lehuédé,Patrice Lehuédé,Luis Alves,Isabelle Biron,Isabelle Biron,Marcia Vilarigues,Marco Verità

doi:10.3390/heritage2030159

Mario Bandiera, Patrice Lehuédé + Show 6 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage2030159

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Abstract

This work aims to characterise the chemical composition of Roman opaque red glass sectilia dated to the 2nd century A.D and to shed light on Roman glassmaking production of different shades of red, from red to reddish-brown. Due to the lack of technical historical sources for this period many questions about technological aspects still remain. In this project a multi-disciplinary approach is in progress to investigate the red glass sectilia with several red hues from the Imperial Villa of Lucius Verus (161–169 A.D.) in Rome. First, colorimetric measurements were taken to identify the various red hues. The second step was chemical characterization of the samples and the identification of crystalline colouring phases. Particle Induced X-Ray Emission (PIXE) analysis was used to investigate the chemical composition of these glass samples, while the crystalline phases were identified by Raman Spectroscopy and Scanning Electrons Microscope with Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectrometry (SEM-EDS). Using SEM-EDS nanoparticles were detected as a colouring agent, the chemical composition and the morphology of which has been studied in depth. This information has been compared with the colorimetric analysis to establish any correlation with the different colour hues.

Highlights

The 2nd century AD imperial villa of Lucius Verus is situated along the Via Appia near Rome, and a large number of its rooms were decorated with the opus sectile technique, with monochrome and polychrome glass pieces of different colours [1]
Colorimetric coordinates (Table 1) identified four main red hues which can be observed in the 3D chart of Figure 3
The nature and chemical compositions and the crystalline phases present in 10 Roman opaque red samples from the sectilia of the Gorga collection, were investigated through several analytical techniques in order to understand the origin of the colour and of different red hues

Summary

Introduction

The 2nd century AD imperial villa of Lucius Verus is situated along the Via Appia near Rome, and a large number of its rooms were decorated with the opus sectile technique, with monochrome and polychrome glass pieces (sectilia) of different colours [1]. The decoration of this villa was destroyed and more than 30,000 glass pieces of different sizes, shapes and colours became part of the private collection of the Italian tenor Evangelista Gorga, between the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. Nowadays the sectilia are stored in the Soprintendenza Archeologica di Roma (more than 30,000 glass pieces of different sizes, shapes and colours) [1,2]. The polychrome sectilia, in which opaque red glass was used with other colours, were not considered in this study

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