Graeco-Roman Mosaics and Wall Paintings

The south-east of Gaul has long been in contact with Greco-Roman culture. From the
4th century onwards, the Greeks installed counters on the Mediterranean coast of Trans -
alpine. This is how Massalia (Marseille), Nikaia (Nice), Antipolis (Antibes), Agathè (Agde)
were founded. The Roman installation in this region (future province of Narbonnaise)
will make it possible to perpetuate the place of mural painting in domestic context. The
cartography of the painted decors offers a rather faithful testimony of the penetration and
the imprint of Greco-Roman culture in Gaul. The early introduction of «Greek-like» parietal
decors in Transalpine, undoubtedly facilitated the spread of the successive Roman pictorial
styles in Narbonnaise. The Lyonnaise – with its few testimonies of decoration of First and
Second style – also shows an early transfer of Roman pictorial modes, which will ensure the
success of the Third style in the South of Gaul. Aquitaine has, for the time not delivered
decoration prior to the Second late style, but shows from this date a taste identical to the
neighbouring provinces for the Roman parietal decors. Towards the middle of the 1st century
AD, the provincial aesthetic seems to be freed from the Urbs’ models: if the pictorial
vocabulary remains profoundly faithful to that which is observed in Italy, then the syntax
diverges. The success of the «candelabrum style», which lasts until the dawn of the
2nd century in the provinces of Roman Gaul is a testimony to this trend. Between original
formulas and the resumption of Roman schemas, we shall see how the pictorial modes of
the provinces of the three Gauls articulate with Italian compositions.

Ce septième volume de Pictor, actes du colloque annuel de lʼAFPMA, tenu à Louvres dans le Val-dʼOise, au musée Archéa, en novembre 2016, entraine encore une fois le lecteur dans notre patrimoine archéologique commun, sur les chantiers de fouille, dans les réserves des musées, les archives, à travers la construction et lʼarchitecture antiques sous lʼangle du décor, de la peinture et du stuc, quʼil soit modeste ou fastueux. Il nous conduit également depuis le Pays de France, vers lʼAllemagne, lʼEspagne, lʼItalie, le Portugal, la Suisse, et jusquʼaux terres lointaines de la Syrie antique. Vingt-neuf présentations dressent un panorama richement illustré des trouvailles anciennes comme des découvertes les plus récentes : Entrains-sur-Nohain, Metz, Béziers, Beauvais, Chartres ou Grenoble, Augst, Rome, Ostie, Pompéi et Herculanum, la vallée de lʼÉbre, Europos-Doura… Lʼiconographie-par le biais du phénix et des personnages peuplant les paysages pompéiens-y côtoie les techniques picturales et la mise en oeuvre de compositions décoratives, attestant lʼévolution des modes et des mentalités dans les villes comme dans les campagnes, à lʼépoque romaine. La diversifi cation des méthodes dʼinvestigation est évidente et des technologies innovantes sont développées en particulier pour les analyses des pigments et des matériaux de la peinture murale, la compréhension, la restitution en 3D des décors et la valorisation de ces vestiges, la sauvegarde des données... au plus près de la réalité scientifi que. La collection Pictor aux éditions Ausonius est consacrée au décor pictural antique. Elle accueille la publication des actes des colloques de lʼAFPMA (Association française pour la peinture murale antique), ainsi que des études monographiques portant sur les décors pariétaux (peinture, stuc…) de lʼAntiquité.

Nowe odkrycie naukowe dotyczące momentu historycznego, gdy powstała macedońska kolonia nazwana początkowo Pella, a następnie Apamea w Syrii, nad rzeką Orontes. Założycielami okazał się Antypater, regent imperium Macedońskiego, jego syn Kassander oraz Archippos. Miało to miejsce w trzy lata po śmierci Aleksandra Macedońskiego i zaraz po traktacie w Triparadeisos u źródeł Orontesu w 320 r. p.n.e. Badania opirają się na analizie nowego źródła historycznego,jakim jest nieznana mozaika, skradziona z Apamei podczas rabunkowych wykopalisk w okresie działąń wojennych, w 2011 roku.

The tympanum of the north alcove in cubiculum 11 at Oplontis Villa A provides one of the few representations of city walls known from Roman antiquity. Today the fresco is nearly illegible due to significant paint losses since its discovery. As a result, previous publications reproduce discrepant drawings derived from the surviving imagery and from sketches made at the time of excavation. In 2008, Grete Stefani of the Soprintendenza Archeologica di Pompei rediscovered two black-and-white photographs of the fresco taken shortly after its excavation in 1967. The images reveal lost details and put to rest some of the discrepancies found in the published drawings.

Expanded and revised version of a previously published paper.

Open Access: https://hdl.handle.net/2027/fulcrum.tb09j7416

Antik Dönem Hellen sanatında deniz ve nehir tanrıları önemli bir yer tutar.
Bu tanrı ve tanrıçalar ile ilgili sahneler, Roma Dönemi mozaiklerinde sevilerek konu edinilmiştir. Antiokheia ad Orontes ve Zeugma kentleri zemin mozaiklerinde Okeanos ve Tethys ile ilgili sahnelere rastlamaktayız. Hem bir deniz tanrısı olarak kabul edilen hem de yeryüzünü dört bir yandan saran bir nehir olduğuna inanılan Okeanos bir titandır. Onun eşi Tethys ise denizin verimliliğini simgeler ve bu figürün geç tarihli tasvirlerine Thalassa adı da verilir. Hellen mitolojisine göre Okeanos ve Tethys’in birleşmesinden binlerce nehir doğmuştur. Roma Dönemi ile birlikte deniz ve nehir tanrıları ikonografisi sanatta belirginleşir ve standart bir betimleme tarzına kavuşur. Bu tipik betimleme anlayışı zemin mozaiklerinde rahatlıkla takip edilebilmektedir.

Bu makalede, Antik Dönem’de Anadolu’daki en popüler bordür desenlerinden olan dalga ve giyoşlar tanıtılmaya çalışılmıştır. Bu tanıtım yapılırken, aynı zamanda bu bordür tasarımlarının ve varyasyonlarının Türkçe tanımları hakkında öneriler yapılmaktadır. C. Balmelle ve bazı araştırmacılar tarafından 1985 yılında ortak kaleme alınan “Le décor géométrique de la mosaique romaine I ve II” kitapları, geometrik ve bitkisel tasarımların tanımlamaları konusunda büyük bir problemi çözmüştü. Ne yazık ki Türkiye’de buna benzer bir çalışma henüz hayata geçirilememiştir. Bu nedenle mozaikler üzerine yapılan yayınlarda bir tanım karmaşası ortaya çıkmıştır. Çalışmamızı, sadece dalga ve giyoş desenlerinden hareketle mozaikler ile alakalı yayınlarda tanımlamaların nasıl yapılması gerektiği hakkında bir örnek olması için hazırladık. Bunun yanında, dalga ve giyoşlar hakkında detaylı bilgiler ve Anadolu’nun bazı kentlerindeki giyoş ve dalga desenleri bordürlerine sahip mozaikler de aktarılmaktadır. Antiokheia, Zeugma, Edessa gibi bazı mozaik merkezlerinde daha yoğun mozaik buluntusu olması sebebiyle bu kentlerdeki buluntulara ağırlık verilmiş; ancak Asia Minor kentlerinden Karadeniz kıyısına, ya da Kilikia’ya kadar özellikle Roma ve Erken Bizans Dönemlerini ilgilendiren mozaikler aktarılmaya çalışılmıştır.

This article analyses wave and guilloche ornaments of ancient floor mosaics which were the most popular border designs in Anatolia during the ancient era. This introduction also aims to make some terminological suggestions of these border designs and their variations in the name of Anatolian archaeology. The two books, “Le décor géométrique de la mosaique romaine I and II”, which were written in the years of 1985 and 2002 by Catherine Balmelle and some other researchers, had solved huge problems about the definitions of the geometric and floral designs. Unfortunately, there isn’t nearly any study of the technical descriptions of the designs which are seen
on the floor mosaics in Anatolia. Therefore, a comprehensive research is needed to make a similar publication about the technical aspects of the designs. Consequently, this study aims to identify some useful answers to questions about definitions, usage periods and origins of these important border ornaments under consideration. Some of the art centers mentioned in the article are Zeugma, Edessa, Antioch-on-the-Orontes, Aphrodisias, Xanthus, Pergamum, Sardeis, Halicarnassus and Amisos.

The aim of this study is the in situ conservation of archaeological mosaics by developing innovative lime mortars in order to improve the behavior of the traditional ones. The conservation of historic mosaics is strongly influenced by the choice of proper materials used for preservative measures, such as proper mortars suitable for the activities of edging repair, grouting, filling and resetting. Several kinds of mortars have been regularly used, but in most cases they presented problems of decay like cracks, disaggregation and erosion, the results not being appropriate for preservation purposes. A very frequent issue is the behavior of the mortar in the presence of soluble salts, because they often cause the loss of physical integrity in repair mortars.
The field of the conservation avails itself of advanced technologies and innovative materials for a more effective restoration of the artworks. Over the years the nanotechnologies have offered a new research field for designing new materials for conservation, like new additives for mortars. In this work several mortars were designed and prepared by adding a nano-additive in the mixture for improving their properties. A comparison between nano-added and traditional mortars was done according to the following criteria: the compatibility of repair materials and stone, the adequate strength to resist tensile and shear forces, retreatability, durability, affordability and ease of application. In order to measure durability of the new mortars, several tests were carried out in order to give us information about their behavior under the enviromental conditions. Moreover, the mortars were investigated by using a colorimeter to check if there were chromatic changes before and after the ageing test. The evaluation of the water absorption of the mortars was carried out by using the Karsten pipe for measuring the hydrophobicity. The results obtained have showed a considerable difference of the features between the traditional and nano-added mortars.

Hesperia vol. 88, 2019, 527-556

https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2972/hesperia.88.3.0527

A fire at Gordion ca. 800 B.C. preserved an ornate woven textile folded up in Megaron 3. A new visual reconstruction of this artifact from the Early Phrygian destruction level shows a complex composition combining slit-tapestry weaving and soumak wrapping. A unique find from Early Iron Age Anatolia, the textile shares geometric motifs and design elements with many other types of Phrygian artifacts, such as painted pottery, inlaid furniture, and a pebble mosaic, and shows weaving to have been part of the koine of geometric design of the era.