Punica luxuria nelle decorazioni di Primo Stile in Sicilia

Abstract

The so-called First Style has a wide diffusion in Sicily, but the fragmentary evidence and stylistic
approach to the subject has limited the fields of research of the topic. The starting point for the study
of the style are the relations with the Macedonian-Alexandrian decorative models, but new research closer
allowed to hypothesize significant connections with the Western Mediterranean. This recent studies of wall
and floor decoration have highlighted the importance of the Punic context in the creation of distinctive and
complex decorative patterns that recur throughout Sicily. Thus, by virtue of island’s geographical centrality,
the aim of the research is the reinterpretation of luxury elements, such as wall and floor decoration in Sicily,
from a broader building culture perspective that sees the island as a center of technical and stylistic reworking
of decorative patterns. The Mediterranean aristocracy turns out to be part of a process of constructing patterns
of identity markers through the representation of different decorative features within their homes, which
find the basis of their tradition in the domestic, civic, and funerary decorations of the Hellenistic-Greek
and Punic worlds.

Keywords: Painting, Decorations, First Style, Mediterranean, Hellenism.