Index
68
Centre de Restauració de Béns Mobles de Catalunya
INNOVATION & RESEARCH
ALEIX BARBERÀ-GINÉ
Preliminary study for the Els Munts ceiling assembly system THE CEILING FROM THE VILLA OF ELS MUNTS IS PROBABLY ONE OF THE MOST NOTABLE WORKS FROM THE ROMAN PERIOD PRESERVED IN CATALONIA. This is a unicum which allows us to discover and study this type of construction element and its decoration. Background This is the ceiling of one of the rooms in the area of the villa’s cryptoportico, which collapsed during the second half of the 2nd century AD, due to a fire that caused the demolition of part of the northern branch of the ambulatio and annex rooms (F. Tarrats and J.A. Remolà (2007), “La vil·la romana dels Munts (Altafulla, Tarragonès), J.A. Remolà (coord.), El territori de Tarraco, vil·les romanes del Camp de Tarragona, Forum 13, Tarragona, 95-117). This circumstance, which led to its destruction, at the same time allowed its conservation, as it remained buried for centuries, until its discovery during the archaeological excavation of room 4700, in the late 1990s. The fragments were extracted, documented and deposited in boxes in the storage rooms of the National Archaeological Museum of Tarragona (MNAT). After an initial conservation-restoration intervention, by a team led by Misi Bruned, in 2006 many of the fragments were located and put together to reassemble the ceiling on a makeshift bed of sand. The surface was initially cleaned, and part of the smaller pieces were adhered. In this way, it was possible to view the ceiling as a whole again. This work is made of lime mortar, which on the reverse perfectly preserves the imprint of the reed on which the first layer of plaster was applied. It features a square frame with a central section on one level, and then two symmetrical sections of coffers on a lower level. This distribution provides a lot of depth and relief to the ensemble. Each of the sections of coffers is arranged into three rectangular units, which inside have octagonal mouldings at the ends and square mouldings in the centre, framing female figures.
RESCAT
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Identification of the obverse (left) and reverse (right) of the fragments on which the first study of the digitisation of the ceiling was done with an articulated arm laser scanner. Photo: Aleix Barberà-Giné
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Illustrative orthophotography for knowledge of the work, which was obtained at the beginning of the study of the ceiling, based on a photogrammetry from mobile phone images. Photo: Aleix Barberà-Giné
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