Photo: AP/Andrew Medichini.
A section of the restored 49-foot wall mosaic from the Painted City site, discovered in the late 1990s in Rome.
I’m not sure if you have to be a closet archaeologist to appreciate the beauty of tiny pieces of frescoe from long ago, but most of us are drawn to a mystery. And pictures like the ones in today’s story remind us that people who lived in ancient times may not have had cellphones, but they weren’t stupid or unskilled.
Nicole Winfield wrote at the Associated Press last month, “Authorities on Tuesday unveiled what is believed to be the largest fresco and mosaic complex of ancient Rome, a first century A.D. depiction of a maritime city in what became the largest bath complex in the world.
“Mayor Roberto Gualtieri presented the recently restored ‘Painted City’ fresco and ‘Great Mosaic’ that were discovered in an underground gallery during excavations in the 1990s of the Baths of Trajan on the Oppio hill near the Colosseum.
“The works are opening to the public for the first time, initially in small groups of 15 and during a trial period of weekend access starting this month. The aim is to determine how the delicate works respond to increased humidity and climactic impacts before allowing more general access.
“Gualtieri said the fresco, which features images of a walled port city from a birds-eye view perspective, was the largest wall fresco of its kind from ancient Rome and as such needs to be open to the public. …
“Rome’s cultural superintendent, Claudio Parisi Presicce, said the grandeur of the port city as depicted in the fresco, with buildings, a theater and temple, public piazzas and towers, was particularly well conserved. The restoration work included techniques to preserve and improve visibility, remove surface deposits and consolidate the grouting to keep the decorated surfaces intact. …
“The mosaic, for its part, measures some [49 feet] high and features intricately decorated columns and architectural elements and figures over four different levels. The top levels are up-close images with people that are almost like theatrical scenes, while at the bottom are views of the [unknown] port city’s layout from above.
“The Baths of Trajan, which were dedicated by Emperor Trajan in 109 A.D., extended over [15 acres] and were at the time the largest bath complex in the world.”
More at AP, here.
