PIGMENT ANALYSIS OF ROMAN WALL PAINTINGS FROM TWO VILLAE RUSTICAE IN SLOVENIA

Abstract

The study deals with the characterisation of paint layers from the wall paintings that decorated two excavat- ed Roman villae rusticae in Slovenia. The villa in Mošnje, located in the NW of Slovenia, was built in the 1st half of the 1st century AD and was in use until the end of the 2nd century AD, while the coastal villa in Ško- larice, built in the second quarter of the 1st century AD, remained in use until the mid-5th century. Stratigra- phy and painting techniques were studied using optical microscopy, with pigments identified via Raman microspectroscopy supported by FTIR microspectroscopy and SEM/EDS. The results of this analysis re- vealed that whereas the Školarice wall paintings were mainly executed using the fresco technique and some areas with the secco technique, both techniques were identified equally in the Mošnje paintings. Red ochre, lime white and carbon black pigments were identified in both the Mošnje and Školarice paintings, although the latter were also characterised by the use of yellow ochre and green earth.