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Mural paintings of the cubicle “dei fornai” in Domitilla catacombs in Rome: a study via non-invasive techniques

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Abstract

At the first level of Domitilla catacombs in Rome, in a peripheral region dating back to the mid-fourth century, is located the cubicle known as “dei fornai” (of the bakers). The cubicle presents some stylistic inconsistencies: subjects and themes suggest the attribution to a customer belonging to the upper class and having an important status, while some parts were made hastily and not well finished. In order to better shine a light on this matter, a diagnostic campaign was carried out, exclusively by means of in situ non-invasive methods and techniques. All the data reported in this work were collected after a laser cleaning of the wall paintings: some fibre optics reflectance spectroscopy (FORS) measurements were made before the cleaning but the poor data obtained are not here reported. After the laser cleaning, a combination of non-invasive techniques was employed in order to univocally identify pigments and materials. Colorimetry, fibre optics reflectance spectroscopy (FORS), infrared spectroscopy in external reflection mode (ER FT-IR), X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF), digital microscopy (DM) and visible-induced luminescence (VIL) were therefore utilised in situ, and brought to unambiguously assign the colour palette.

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Notes

  1. Geographical coordinates derived from Google Maps.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Maria Gigliola Patrizi (freelance restorer) and Rosa Senserrich-Espuñes (Universidad de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain) for their contribution and technical support during the in situ campaign.

Giovanni Bartolozzi, Barbara Sacchi, Marco Realini and Barbara Mazzei would also dedicate this paper to the memory of their colleague and friend Susanna Bracci.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Applied Physics, Nello Carrara”, IFAC-CNR, Via Madonna del Piano 10, 50019, Sesto Fiorentino, FI, Italy

    Giovanni Bartolozzi

  2. Institute of Heritage Science, ISPC-CNR, Via Madonna del Piano 10, 50019, Sesto Fiorentino, FI, Italy

    Susanna Bracci & Barbara Sacchi

  3. Institute of Heritage Science, ISPC-CNR, Via Cozzi, 53, 20125, Milan, Italy

    Marco Realini

  4. Pontificia Commissione Di Archeologia Sacra, via Napoleone III 1, 00185, Roma, Italy

    Barbara Mazzei

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  1. Giovanni Bartolozzi
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  2. Susanna Bracci
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  3. Barbara Sacchi
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  4. Marco Realini
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  5. Barbara Mazzei
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Correspondence to Giovanni Bartolozzi.

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Bartolozzi, G., Bracci, S., Sacchi, B. et al. Mural paintings of the cubicle “dei fornai” in Domitilla catacombs in Rome: a study via non-invasive techniques. Archaeol Anthropol Sci 13, 185 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-021-01447-5

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