FragmentsSyrian2nd-3rd century CE

Wall Painting Fragment

160-250 CE

Description

Grey pigment on white lime (calcite) plaster, with large multicolored pebble inclusions. Grey ground. This fragment mends (joins) with fragment 1940.97.22. Both fragments have beveled edges intended to evoke masonry draft lines (drafted margins). This scheme is consistent with what is generally termed the "Masonry Style" in Mediterranean wall painting, which gave molded plaster walls the appearance of stone architecture (ashlar masonry and marble veneering). Samples of the pigments and plaster were taken from fragment 1940.97.22 and analyzed in the Straus Center in 2023. The results found the grey to be made of the following: calcium carbonate, gypsum, Egyptian blue, and possibly carbon black. The plaster was identified as lime (calcite) plaster.

Classification

Fragments

Technique

Painted

Medium

Pigment on Plaster

Culture

Syrian

Period

Roman Imperial period

Century

2nd-3rd century CE

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Department

Department of Ancient and Byzantine Art & Numismatics

Dimensions

Irreg.: H. 1 × W. 2.2 × D. 0.8 cm (3/8 × 7/8 × 5/16 in.)

Provenance

Dura-Europos (near modern Salihiyeh, Syria), excavated [1]; by the Yale-French Excavations [2] (by 1937), gift; to Prentice Duell [3], Boston, MA, (by 1940), gift; to Fogg Art Museum, 1940. [1] The specific archaeological findspots (on the site) of the gifted wall painting fragments were not recorded (Letter, Clark Hopkins to Prentice Duell, June 9, 1940, Folder 13 ("Blue: Azurite"), Pigment File, Unspecified MS Box No. 3, Papers of Prentice Van Walbeck Duell, 1894-1960, Special Collections, Fine Arts Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA). [2] Yale-French Excavations at Dura-Europos (1928-1937), a collaboration between Yale University (New Haven, Connecticut) and the French Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres (Paris), in agreement with the High Commission of the French Republic (French Mandate of Syria). A portion of excavated finds were distributed to Yale under partage agreements. [3] Given as samples of ancient wall painting under the auspices of Clark Hopkins (1895-1976), field director of Yale-French Excavations at Dura-Europos, 1931-1935, to Prentice Duell (1894-1960). Duell was an architect, archaeologist, and scholar of ancient painting. Duell worked on archaeological field projects in the US, Greece, and Egypt (Saqqara); he was a research fellow of Etruscan art at the Fogg Museum from 1939 to 1960.