Ornate Roman Fresco Discovered Beneath Street Of London

MessageToEagle.com – Archaeologists have discovered an ornate Roman fresco hidden six meters beneath the Lime Street, in London. It is believed the fresco once adorned the residence of a wealthy Roman citizen.

The finding was made by the MOLA team (Museum of London Archaeology).

Discovered face down, the fresco was identified from the distinctive markings of the keyed daub onto which the plaster was attached. The fragile remains, surviving to a width of nearly 2.5 meters and a height of over 1.5 meters, were carefully removed from the site by our archaeological conservators, who lifted the fresco in 16 sections. Each section was supported, undercut and block lifted so that soil encased and protected the plaster. Back in the lab the conservators worked quickly to micro-excavate the soil whilst it was still damp, to expose the millimeter-thin painted surface beneath.

The painting is likely to have decorated a reception room where guests were greeted and entertained.

The central section, on a background of green and black vertical panels, depicts deer nibbling trees, alongside birds, fruit and a vine woven around a candelabrum. Red panels, bordered with cream lines, surround the main decorative scheme. The fresco was hand-painted by a skilled artist in natural earth pigments, except one area of red on the twisting vine stem which is picked out in cinnabar, an expensive mercuric sulphide pigment that had to be mined in Spain.

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A slight error in the design reveals that the craftsman who painted the fresco made a mistake. It suggests that there was more than one person painting the wall and that they may have been working to a pre-prepared template. The mistake could only have been corrected by repainting the whole middle panel.

Scientists will now study the elaborate fresco further and learn more about the fashions and interiors favored by London’s first wealthy citizens.

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Source:

MOLA