Alix Barbet : Coupoles, voûtes et plafonds peints d’époque romaine. Ier-IVe siècle apr. J.-C., Paris, Hermann, Paris, 2021.
ISBN : 9791037006806
Dimensions : 23.1 x 28.7 cm
Pages : 350
Prix : 64,00 €
The book is available on CAIRN : https://www.cairn.info/coupoles-voutes-et-plafonds-peints-d-epoque-romain–9791037006806.htm
The study of the domes, vaults and painted ceilings of the Roman Empire is an undertaking that takes us from present-day Great Britain to the borders of ancient Mesopotamia, via the countries of Eastern Europe, not forgetting North Africa, as far as Libya and Egypt. More than four hundred decors are studied and photographed, some of which have disappeared, been destroyed or stolen. Of the two hundred and seventy-two sites from which these paintings come, sixty are from Gaul, thus almost a quarter of the sites illustrated with a perspective of Gaul in the space of the Roman world.
We are trying to classify these paintings, which at first imitate the wooden or stone caissons that preceded them, then the draperies, before inventing very varied decorative schemes, close to certain mosaic pavements. Flowerbeds are obviously abundant in the tombs, where they remind us of the annual rose festival dedicated to the deceased. An emperor like Nero added gold to the vaults of his palace, rightly called the Domus Aurea, which inspired Renaissance painters when it was discovered. The link between the past and the present can be read through this investigation.
(translation of the french presentation on the website of the publisher).
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