In Commugny, a village on the south-western shore of the Lac Léman, the main building of a villa was discovered below the church of Saint Christophe and a graveyard. Excavations began in 1904 and were continued on many later occasions. However, only a small part has been investigated so far. The main interest lies in the wall paintings, partly found on the walls, partly as fragments fallen on the floor. They were taken to the Musée romain de Nyon. The paintings belong to the last phase of the Third Pompeian Style, to the years 35-45 AD. The backgrounds are yellow, red, and black. One wall, with a black background, had slender columns of plants and fruit arising from vessels. From the columns garlands were suspended.
View of the excavations in 1904. Photo: Wikimedia, helveticarchives.ch.
A plant column arising from a cantharus. Photo: Wikimedia, Odrade123.
Reconstruction of the plant column arising from a cantharus.
H. Bossert, An encyclopaedia of colour decoration, Berlin 1928, Pl. 39.
Reconstruction of a wall with plant columns and garlands. Fuchs 1994, fig. 22.
Dolphins flanking a vessel. Photo: Fuchs 1994, fig. 36.
A goat standing on a plant. Photo: Wikimedia, Odrade123.
Literature
Anzeiger für schweizerische Altertumskunde 6,2-3 (1904-1905), 179-180; Cailler 1920; Jahresbericht der Schweizerischen Gesellschaft für Urgeschichte 23 (1931), 64-65; 28 (1936), 69; 30 (1938), 106; Anzeiger für schweizerische Altertumskunde 39 (1937), 78; Drack 1950, 66-75, Pl. I-VI, Abb. 153-156; Von Gonzenbach 1961, 95-96; Jahrbuch der Schweizerischen Gesellschaft für Ur- und Frühgeschichte 62 (1979), 141; 69 (1986), 266; Drack 1980(1), 3-4; Drack-Fellmann 1988, 385-386; Drack-Fellmann 1991, 106; Fuchs 1994.
[5-Mar-2024]
