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All That Glitters: Gemstones and Viewer Participation in Ancient Roman Wall Ornamentation
Murphy, Mamie
Murphy, Mamie
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Abstract
In this study, I investigate how Roman patrons’ use of gemstones in domestic decoration encouraged guests to forgo their traditional role of observer and instead actively engage with the ornamentation adorning elite residences. I specifically analyze the gemstones depicted in the Second-Style wall paintings in Triclinium 14 in Villa A at Oplontis and Cubiculum M in the Villa of P. Fannius Synistor at Boscoreale (50-40 BCE), as well as the mirror-like obsidian slabs embedded into the east peristyle wall of the House of the Golden Cupids, the east peristyle wall of the House of the Orchard in Pompeii, and the east atrium wall of the House of the Ephebe in Pompeii (mid-1st century CE). Though the conversation is nascent, accepted interpretations regard ornamental gemstones as mere markers of Rome’s expansive military conquests, taste for the exotic, and Hellenization. However, I seek to transcend gemstones’ traditional symbolization and argue that, in select homes, ornamental gemstones fostered an immersive environment that directly inserted guests into the decorative programs of their houses to entertain and impress the patrons’ guests. To achieve this, I adopt ancient literary interpretations of gemstones as paradoxical objects that embody nature and art simultaneously and thereby blur the boundary between natural and man-made. I suggest the inherent duality of gemstones then resonates with the slippage between the real and engineered experiences offered in elite Roman residences, and that this shared ambiguity is precisely where houses ornamented with gemstones derived their immersive capabilities. Ultimately, this study uses Roman patrons’ imaginative employment of decorative gemstones as a medium for deciphering the understudied but integral relationship between ornamentation, materiality, and the social politics of domestic spaces.
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Master of Arts in Art History -- John Cabot University, Spring 2024.
Date
2024
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Keywords
Roman mural painting and decoration, Roman walls, Interior decoration, Architectural decoration and ornament, Dwellings
Citation
Murphy, Mamie. "All That Glitters: Gemstones and Viewer Participation in Ancient Roman Wall Ornamentation". Master's Thesis, John Cabot University, Rome, Italy. 2024.