Decorative Principles in late Republican and early Imperial Italy

Project Information

DECOR

Grant agreement ID: 681269

DOI

10.3030/681269

Project closed

EC signature date 14 April 2016

Start date 1 October 2016

End date 30 September 2022

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)

Total cost

€ 1 996 971,00

EU contribution

€ 1 996 971,00

Coordinated by

CHRISTIAN-ALBRECHTS-UNIVERSITAET ZU KIEL
Germany

Periodic Reporting for period 4 - DECOR (Decorative Principles in late Republican and early Imperial Italy)

Reporting period: 2021-04-01 to 2022-09-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

DECOR is undertaking a comprehensive analysis of the decorative principles employed in Roman Italy between the late Republic and the end of the early Imperial period (2nd century BC through late 1st century AD). It is the first research programme of its kind to move away from analyses of single decorative elements in isolation, focusing instead upon their correlation and interaction. This unifying approach is being applied to three discrete urban contexts: houses, sanctuaries and streets, and will permit an examination of the changes decorative principles underwent in these varied spatial and functional settings from a diachronic perspective.
Within this general framework, the project addresses four core research questions:
1. How can the interplay of various decorative elements be analysed for architecturally “closed” and “open” urban spaces? Of particular interest here is the manner in which forms of decor interact with one another on a formal level, as well as with regard to content and meaning, in order to create specific atmospheres.
2. What methods permit a scientific assessment of the interplay between decor and the use of space?
3. Is there a social significance to decorative principles? Do specific social groups or spatial contexts favour or exclusively employ particular forms of decor?
4. How can decorative ensembles be identified as artistic expressions typical for certain periods?
The holistic approach employed in this project enabled analyses of decorative forms and their dependencies in spatial, chronological and social terms across different functional contexts. In doing so, it provided a fundamental advancement of our understanding of visual culture during a crucial period of Roman history. DECOR served as pilot project for advancing new methods in substantial analyses of decorated spaces in the ancient world.
Finally, this perspective on the ancient world also stimulates a new look at the design of our own environment.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The ERC DECOR focused on three fields of activity:

a) The analysis of late Republican and Early Imperial architecture and objects with regard to their design and decoration. The regional focus was on Pompeii with its outstanding preservation conditions. Three monographs provide insight into the decorative strategies in private contexts: An overarching monograph (A. Haug, Decor-Räume in pompejanischen Stadthäusern, DECOR 1, Berlin 2020) discusses the change of decorative principles between the so-called First and Third Styles, a second monograph (Chr. Beck, Die Ausstattung kleinerer Häuser in Pompeji, Insula IX 5, DECOR 6, in print) uses the example of Insula IX 5 to make detailed observations on the use of decor in the final phase of the city, while the third monograph (A. Hielscher, Instrumenta domestica aus Pompeji und ihr Design, DECOR 4, Berlin 2022) deals with the decoration of domestic objects. In addition, a architectural and geophysics survey of Insula I 4 provided new insights into the chronology of a spectacular decorative context - the Casa del Citarista (by Tobias Busen and Wolfgang Rabbel). Further studies discussed the role of marble within Pompeiian and Herculanean houses (Simon Barker) and the use of decor in the substructions of villae (Roberta Ferrito). These latter results are published in the ERC conference volumes (A. Haug - T. Lauritsen, Principles of Decoraton in the Roman Worlds, DECOR 2, Berlin 2021; A. Haug et al., Materiality in Roman Art and Architecture, DECOR 3, Berlin 2022; A. Haug et al., Neighbourhoods and City Quarters in Antiquity, DECOR 7, in print). The analysis of decor strategies in private contexts is complemented by studies of decorative principles in streets and sanctuaries - contexts which are characterised by different audiences, actions and perceptual conditions. The results are published in the aforementioned conference volumes as well as in scientific journals. The concluding monograph provides a comparative perspective on the use and perception of decoration in different functional contexts of ancient Pompeii (A. Haug, Öffentliche Räume in Pompeji. Zum Design urbaner Atmosphären, DECOR 5, in print).

b) All sub-projects of DECOR have developed a theoretical and methodological design that will offer answers to general questions concerning the aesthetic, semantic and social relevance of decor, as well as its relation to agency and/or architecture. This includes a critical discussion of the ancient concept and notion of decor as well as the development of new theoretical approaches to the interdependency of use and perception of decoration in different ancient contexts. The concluding monograph developped an innovative perspective on public spaces by addressing their atmospheric effects.

c) All sub-projects have contributed to the dissemination of results to the scientific as well as to the non-scientific public.
Science: The PI and all team members presented results at national and international congresses and workshops. For the scientific publication of the results, the monograph series DECOR was established (De Gruyter, publications open access and print). In addition, results are also published in scientific journals.
Outreach: Additional effort has been made for the public dissemination of results on different levels: the organisation of a summer school (student level), the establishement a young-scientists-network (PhD level), the organisation of broad interdisciplinary conference on urban design, including a published booklet for the broad public (in print), the organisation of a public lecture series (broader academia and public level), the organisation of two public exhibitions in Kiel („Bildwanderungen – Bildtransporte. Die augusteische Bilderwelt jenseits der Alpen“ (15.10.2021 - 16.01.2022) and Hamburg „Die neuen Bilder des Augustus" (08.10.2022 – 15.01.2023) including published exhibition catalogues.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Progress beyond the state of the art:
a) Holistic analysis of all decorative features (within a specific context) with regard to their interdependency;

b) Theoretically and methodologically reflected analyses of the relations between decor/architecture/human action, including a critical assessment of widely accepted concepts that describe the relation of decor and room function (e. g. the model established by Andrew Wallace-Hadrill).

c) “Thick description” (a term established by Clifford Geertz) of exemplary contexts that allow a detailed analysis of the aforementioned interdependencies: mainly houses, streets and sanctuaries. Identification of different decorative strategies for different spatial contexts in urban spaces.

d) Reconstruction of decorative principles for different phases (between the 2nd century BC to the 1st century AD). Differentiated understanding of the specific logic of media ('Eigenlogik der Dinge') and their embedding in political, social, economic and cultural contexts. Focus on innovative design strategies as well as on strategies of repair and restauration.

e) Comparative analysis of aesthetics, semantics and function in different genres (architecture and objects).

f) Comparative analysis of the role of materiality in different media.

g) Concluding comparative analysis of the atmospheric design of urban spaces - for the well-documented example of Pompeii.

Pompeii, Forum with temple of Iuppiter