Proposed new honours course in Classical Art and Archaeology:
Roman interior design
To be taught by Glenys Davies
Many sites across the Roman world retain evidence for the decoration of the interiors of
buildings in the form of wall paintings, mosaics, stucco, statuary and furniture. This course
focuses on the ways in which these media were used, both singly and in combination, the
extent to which they were designed to fit the shape and purpose of the spaces they occupy,
and the social meaning and importance of interior decoration.
The surviving remains from Pompeii, Herculaneum and the city of Rome itself will be studied
in some detail, but other sites in Italy and the provinces will also be studied from the point of
view of the spread of ideas about interior design from Rome and the development of
distinctive regional/local styles and workshops. Much of the decoration will come from
houses, but consideration will also be given to the specialist needs of other types of buildings
(such as baths and tombs).
Topics covered in the course may include:
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Hellenistic forerunners (case study: Delos)
The four Pompeiian styles and their usefulness (or not) in studying Roman wall
painting
The different kinds of mosaics at Pompeii and how they were used
The use of decorative schemes in the Pompeiian house to articulate room use and
indicate patterns of movement around the house
The Pompeiian house as picture gallery: were there thematic programmes?
Statuary displays in houses and villas (case study: Villa of the Papyri at
Herculaneum)
Painting and stucco decoration of houses owned by Augustus and his family in
Rome and Campania: the imperial family at the forefront of fashion
The decoration of large villa complexes: the Villa of the Mysteries, villas at
Boscotrecase, Boscoreale and Oplontis
The use of black and white versus polychrome in mosaic design
Paintings and mosaics in public and commercial spaces (case study: Ostia)
Wall painting in Gaul and Roman Britain
The mosaic workshops of Roman Britain and their local styles
Mosaics in Roman N. Africa (and at Piazza Armerina in Sicily)
Mosaics from Cyprus and Antioch
Catacomb painting in Rome and its relationship to contemporary house decoration
Decorating spaces with a specific function: baths, tombs, brothels
Intended Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course students should be able to:
 Demonstrate a knowledge of the main developments within the Roman period of wall
painting, mosaic and other decorative arts used for interior design
 Discuss the relationship between the decoration of Roman houses and the functions
of the spaces decorated
 Describe and analyse the interior decoration of a range of specific examples of
Roman buildings
Delivery:
There will be two one-hour classes a week: teaching will be through a combination of lectures
and seminars with student presentations.
Assessment:
Essay 40%; exam 60%. The seminar presentations will not be formally assessed, but students
will be given the opportunity to write their essay on the same topic. They will be able to
choose whether to write an analysis of the decoration of a particular building or an answer to
a more general question.
In the exam students will answer one picture question and one essay-type question (of equal
weight).
Sample bibliography:
Barbet, A (ed.) Peinture murale antique Paris 1987
Clarke, J.R. The Houses of Roman Italy, 100 B.C.-A.D. 250. Ritual, Space and Decoration
Berkely and Los Angeles 1991
Clarke, J.R. Art in the Lives of Ordinary Romans Berkely and Los Angeles 2003
Dunbabin, K.M.D., The Mosaics of Roman North Africa. Studies in Iconography and
Patronage Oxford 1978
Dunbabin, K.M.D., Mosaics of the Greek and Roman World Cambridge 1999
Gazda, E.K. (ed.) Roman Art in the Private Sphere Ann Arbor 1994
Laurence, R. Roman Pompeii: space and society London 1994
Laurence, R. and Wallace-Hadrill, A. (eds.) Domestic Space in the Roman World: Pompeii
and beyond Journal of Roman Archaeology Supplementary series no. 22 1997
Ling, R. Insula of the Menander at Pompeii Oxford 1997
Ling, R. Roman Mosaics London 1998
Ling, R. Roman Painting Cambridge 1991
C.C. Matusch and H. Lie, The Villa dei Papiri at Herculaneum: Life and Afterlife of a
Sculpture Collection Los Angeles 2005
Wallace-Hadrill, A., Houses and Society in Pompeii and Herculaneum Princeton 1994