© Daniel Ledesma/Pexels
La Domus Aurea, or Golden House, is a true architectural marvel of ancient Rome, built on the orders of Emperor Nero after the Great Fire of Rome in 64 AD. Inside the bowels of this palace legendary, archaeologists have just unearthed a vestige of absolute rarity: a 2.4 kg block of Egyptian blue pigment. This pigment is one of the oldest known artificial pigments.
At first glance, this may seem trivial, but this discovery, announced on January 20 by the Colosseum Archaeological Park, proves that we certainly still have much to learn from the artistic practices of Imperial Rome.
L’ massive sample of Egyptian blue exhumed from the Domus Aurea site. © Parco archeologico del Colosseo, photograph by Simona Murrone
The largest block of Egyptian pigment ever discovered
It is within ;#8217;a beautifully preserved painting workshop that the researchers discovered this block. If Egyptian blue has been discovered for a long time, never has a fragment of such a size been discovered ;had been found. The excavations revealed a veritable ancient chromatic laboratory, composed of two preparation vats where the artisans of the Neronian era developed their pigments.
In this creative space, the archaeologists also unearthed a complete set of instruments and pictorial materials: an amphora with golden highlights containing yellow ochre, containers containing realgar, this bright red pigment of mineral origin so prized by the Romans, as well as various shades of red ochre.
200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000Egyptian blue is considered to be the first major innovation of humanity in the field of synthetic colors. It required exceptional technical mastery that the Egyptians developed more than five millennia ago in the Nile Valley.
Its manufacture required a complex process of thermal transformation, combining limestone, chemical compounds and copper minerals. By the Roman era, its production had moved to southern Italy, where artisans had perfected manufacturing techniques inherited from the Egyptians.
Usually found in the form of powder or tiny spheres in archaeological sites, this enormous block is a real enigma. It may suggest the existence of a different manufacturing process, or an intermediate step in production that we did not yet know about. It is also possible that it was stored in this way for future use, or that it had a specific function, perhaps as a standard for color or as a ritual offering.
Alfonsina Russo, director of the Archaeological Park of the Colosseum expressed herself in a Facebook post: ” The intensity of the blue of this pigment is simply fascinating. The Domus Aurea moves us once again and restores the brilliance of the colors used by the painters who skilfully decorated the rooms of this precious and refined imperial palace “. This remark seems very relevant when we consider that this pigment has preserved its intensity after two millennia of burial. Analysis of the remains of the city of Pompeii had already established that Egyptian blue was exclusively reserved for prestigious spaces, a practice that this discovery in the Domus Aurea comes to confirm in a striking manner.
- Archaeologists have discovered a block of Egyptian blue pigment weighing 2.4 kg in Nero's palace in Rome.
- It was unearthed at the same time as a painting workshop in a very well-preserved state.
- The pigment, a symbol of luxury, has retained a remarkable intensity despite its 2,000 years.
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