The imitation of coloured marbles in a first style wall painting from the Etruscan-Roman town of Populonia (LI – Italy), Proceedings

Recently (2000-2004) a First Style wall painting (end of 2nd century BC) was found in the Etruscan-Roman town of Populonia (LI – Italy). The richness and variety of marbling in the multicoloured courses of ashlar block-work are extremely interesting if compared to other contemporary examples, up till now known, in Italy. The marbling, especially for some types, resembles the real stones surprisingly, not only for the realistic pattern but also for the accurate modelling, the colours tones and the smoothing and shimmering gloss of the surface. The plasterers and painters had a great technical skill that allowed to make a surface appearance very similar to real marbles. The minero-petrographic analysis of the tectorium and pigments, carried out in order to identify the raw materials and the different painting techniques used, have emphasized the great accuracy of the wall painting.