This paper takes its cue from analyzing a well-known letter addressed by Symmachus (Symm. Ep. 8.42) to an anonymous addressee. The author asks him to send urgently – on a board or a tile – samples of a novum musivi genus that he wished to use to decorate some rooms of his residences. In order to detect the main features of this type of floor decoration, this paper builds a comparison between the vitreous and marble sectilia panels recovered in Faragola (Ascoli Satriano, FG) and the ones from Kenchreai (Corinth) and other Egyptian contexts, as well as with the crustae from San Vincenzino (Cecina, LI). These decorations were particularly popular during Symmachus's age, between the second half of the 4th c. and the beginning of the 5th c. AD. This paper briefly focuses on specific topics that have already been analysed in previous works: it questions the sectilia and the raw materials origin, the manufacturing and placement process and techniques, the clients and the workers. All issues are tackled based on the results of archaeometry and the analysis of building material used in the design and the preparatory layers. Important data from the most recent researches are also presented.
Il novum musivi genus di Simmaco e i pannelli in opus sectile
Giuliano Volpe
2021-01-01
Abstract
This paper takes its cue from analyzing a well-known letter addressed by Symmachus (Symm. Ep. 8.42) to an anonymous addressee. The author asks him to send urgently – on a board or a tile – samples of a novum musivi genus that he wished to use to decorate some rooms of his residences. In order to detect the main features of this type of floor decoration, this paper builds a comparison between the vitreous and marble sectilia panels recovered in Faragola (Ascoli Satriano, FG) and the ones from Kenchreai (Corinth) and other Egyptian contexts, as well as with the crustae from San Vincenzino (Cecina, LI). These decorations were particularly popular during Symmachus's age, between the second half of the 4th c. and the beginning of the 5th c. AD. This paper briefly focuses on specific topics that have already been analysed in previous works: it questions the sectilia and the raw materials origin, the manufacturing and placement process and techniques, the clients and the workers. All issues are tackled based on the results of archaeometry and the analysis of building material used in the design and the preparatory layers. Important data from the most recent researches are also presented.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
