Identification of plant elements represented in the suburban Villa della Piscina di Centocelle (Rome, Italy) as a source of reconstruction of the ancient gardens

Alma Kumbaric, Flavia Bartoli, Zohreh Hosseini, Giulia Caneva
Abstract:
Plants in art are not only decorative elements, they have symbolic values that cannot be neglected, because are bearer of a message, which need to be understood. Moreover, they usually show the connection with the surrounding natural landscape. Indeed, the phytoiconographic elements are important tools to reconstruct the lost garden. Our works aims identifying the plant representation to provide useful information for the reconstruction of the the ancient villa’s garden. We studied decorated wall remains and ceiling structures identifying the plant species and attributing their symbolic value and garden role. Preliminary data show the presence of more than twenty plants, mainly Mediterranean. The symbolic groups present a slight prevalence of solar and salvific elements. For the garden we identified species to decorate and border the flowerbeds, but also with productive role. The analysis of these represented naturalistic elements gives support in understanding the historical landscape behind their representation.
Download:
IMEKO-MetroArchaeo-2023-174.pdf
DOI:
10.21014/tc4-ARC-2023.174
Event details
IMEKO TC:
TC4
Event name:
TC4 MetroArchaeo 2023
Title:

IMEKO TC4 International Conference on Metrology for Archaeology and Cultural Heritage

Place:
Rome, ITALY
Time:
19 October 2023 - 21 October 2023