HALL OF THE GOLDEN VAULT, 65-68 CE. DOMUS AUREA When Nero's last palace, the massive Domus Aurea, was rediscovered in the late C15, this hall, axially aligned with the centre of one of the two pentagonal recesses of the façade of the pavilion on the Oppian hill, was still decorated with gold leaf on some of the stucco. One huge hole dug in from above came from explorers, the smaller one from a medieval well. This room, despoiled by Trajan of its opus sectile wall panels and floor, was filled with earth. However, much more of its decoration survived in the C16, and the artist Francisco de Hollanda tried to reconstruct it in drawing based on what remained. It is a complex ceiling of stucco frames enclosing rectangular scenes, with roundels that probably had figurative frescoes in them as well. At centre a huge roundel, now entirely lost, contained the ceiling's main image. As we will see, this ceiling became a battleground for competing forms of classical reception.
#FrescoFriday this week dives into one of the most famous #ceilings of #Nero's #DomusAurea: the #GoldenVault, buried under the #Oppian Hill in #Rome. It's an excellent case study in #classicalreception over five centuries. So let's dig in! #AncientBluesky 🏺
