Roman wall plaster, Brantingham, Yorkshire, c.300-400 AD
This wall decoration has been reconstructed from many pieces of broken plaster. It is a rare example of Roman painted wall plaster. The picture of the woman is probably meant to be a goddess or a member of the Roman Imperial family.
This wall plaster would have decorated a Roman villa and had to be painted straight onto the wall. As well as looking nice, it showed off how rich the owners were.
This Roman wall plaster is from a Roman villa at Brantingham, Yorkshire. It was found in two large pieces and two further groups of smaller pieces. As part of reconstruction missing areas have been repainted.
Despite looking quite modern, the style of the woman and painting dates from the fourth century AD. The figure is also set within a medallion or circle. This was commonly used by Roman craftsmen in paintings, mosaics and sculpture. Plainer architectural motifs without people were more common in plaster paintings. This shows how the owners of this villa aspired to be upper class. Along with the mosaic in their villa, it must have been quite imposing.
The production of plaster in Roman Britain included the use of lime and a fine aggregate like sand. Artists painting plaster mostly used the fresco technique. This involves painting onto the plaster while it is still damp which helps the image to survive better. Another technique called tempera was also used sometimes. This involves using pigment with an organic binding medium, which helps the paint to stick to the plaster.
Pigments could come from a variety of sources. Black could come from charcoal or lamp black. White came from white lime and red from oxides of iron. The woad plant provided blue. Purple was one of the most expensive colours, coming from the Murex species of shellfish. As purple was so expensive and special, only the Roman Emperor was allowed to wear it.
