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

The study deals with the characterisation of paint layers from the wall paintings that decorated two excavated Roman villae rusticae in Slovenia. The villa in Mosnje, 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 Skolarice, built in the second quarter of the 1st century AD, remained in use until the mid-5th century. Stratigraphy 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 revealed that whereas the Skolarice wall paintings were mainly executed using the fresco technique and some areas with the secco technique, both techniques were identified equally in the Mosnje paintings. Red ochre, lime white and carbon black pigments were identified in both the Mosnje and Skolarice paintings, although the latter were also characterised by the use of yellow ochre and green earth.