FRAMMENTI PARIETALI DELLA DOMUS DELL’EX CONVENTO DI S. FRANCESCO A RIMINI

Abstract

This article deals with the painted fragments found during the excavations of a Roman domus discovered
in the ancient colony of Ariminum (268 BC). Work carried out in the centre of the modern city of Rimini
between 1978 and 1981 made it possible to identify the remains of a number of different rooms that formed
part of a Roman residential context, with an open area nearby. Investigation of the stratigraphy and of the
finds have shown that the domus was partially rebuilt and refurbished during the first half of the second century
AD, during Hadrian’s reign at the latest. Many fragments of mural decorations were found in the two cisterns located in the open area close to the residential sector. All of these items seem to belong to a precious
life phase of the domestic complex. The systematic documentation and analysis of the painted fragments
have led to the identification of typical decorative motifs related to the Fourth Pompeian Style and thus provide
a convincing chronological interpretation of the fragments to the second half of the first century AD.