Paintings and opus sectile

Assigning more or less accurate dates to paintings from later antiquity is often impossible. The masonry below a painting provides a terminus post quem, but is in itself not easy to date. And because the walls often carry several layers of paintings the masonry is often not particularly helpful. The final abandonment of a building of course provides the terminus ante quem, but is again difficult to date. Ostia was not "sealed" by a natural disaster like the Campanian cities. Most of the buildings slowly decayed and finally collapsed when the beams supporting the ceilings had rotted away. When a building collapsed due to a fire or an earthquake and was not rebuilt, a rare event, an accurate date is often possible, based on sherds and coins.

What has become clear is that in the later third and fourth century there was a predilection for paintings imitating marble. Marble floors and wall cladding are characteristic of the late luxurious buildings. The painted marble is a cheaper alternative. Fine examples can be seen in the House of the Yellow Walls, an apartment in the Garden Houses complex, and the House of the Eagle.

A painting imitating marble in the House of the Yellow Walls. Photo: Klaus Heese.

In the House of the Nymphaeum remains of figurative paintings were taken from the walls of the vestibule. Above a socle imitating marble we can see the lower part of caretakers (vilici) working on an estate outside the city, coming to the house to offer part of the harvest to the dominus. Two chicken were also painted.

Remains of figurative paintings from the vestibule of the House of the Nymphaeum.
Click on the image to enlarge. Photo: Parco Archeologico di Ostia.

Remains of figurative paintings from the vestibule of the House of the Nymphaeum. Photo: ICCD E040765.

When it comes to wall decoration and marble, the undisputed highlight is the decoration from the Building with Opus Sectile outside Porta Marina, at the beach. After extensive restoration is has been taken to the Museo dell'Alto Medioevo (Museum of the Early Middle Ages) in the EUR-district of Rome, unfortunately off the beaten track for tourists. The opus sectile comes from a relatively small hall, but for some reason it looks much bigger in the museum. The maximum width of the hall is 7,45 m., the depth 10,60 m.

The marble wall decoration in the Museo dell'Alto Medioevo reinserted in the Building with Opus Sectile.
Gerard Huissen, 2011.

The function of the building is unknown (in the discussions a portrait of Christ plays an important role). The construction began in the 380's, as can be deduced from coins. Other coins indicate that the unfinished building, with work still going on, was destroyed in 393 AD or a little later. Traces of fire were not found, and an earthquake or tsunami seems the most likely cause.

Plan of the Building with Opus Sectile. The lower left part (south-west part) was destroyed by the sea.
The hall with the opus sectile is the second room to the right of the staircase. Image: Parco Archeologico di Ostia.

Reconstruction drawing of the Building with Opus Sectile, north and east side.
Click on the image to enlarge. Image: Parco Archeologico di Ostia.

Many kinds of marble were used, from Italy, Tunisia, Greece, Turkey and Egypt. At least part of it is re-used material, including slices of slender columns. Polychrome glass was also employed. Quite surprising is a marble imitation of masonry in the exedra that forms the back part of the hall. Above what might be a representation of opus reticulatum is an obvious imitation of opus mixtum (bricks and small tufa stones): a type of masonry that had not been made for 250 years. A whole series of windows or doors can be seen on the back wall and side walls, blocked with "tufa stones". Such neat blockings are sometimes seen in Ostia. A very similar real wall, a decorative facade with openings that were blocked from the start, is found in the Porta Romana necropolis: the Tomba degli Archetti from the first century AD. The artists who were responsible for the opus sectile must have seen this facade, but we would underestimate them and their employers when we reduce their choice to a mere copy with a decorative purpose. Rather this focal point of the hall reflects deep respect for the golden years of Ostia, simultaneously represented as something of the past by the "blockings", embedded in the artistic language of a new era.

The exedra with a marble imitation of masonry. Photo: Wikimedia, Leolandi.

Porta Romana necropolis, Tomba degli Archetti. Photo: Klaus Heese.

After the event which caused the destruction, it was decided to leave the building as it was. If the building was intended for use by the administration, then perhaps the central government seized the opportunity for a change. The only law in the Codex Theodosianus mentioning Ostia was issued in this period, in 398 AD. Not much later, in the years 408-423 AD, the vicarius Urbis Flavius Nicius Theodulus was active in Ostia, working with the principales, the chief magistrates of the colony (inscription EDR072928).