(Italiano) Scheda Sito

Provenienza: Villa
Cronologia: 50 – 100 A.D. (Roman Empire)

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Descrizione
The capital, almost intact, still retains the engravings which composed the design both on the main face and on the right side; the left part is poorly preserved and the back is rough to facilitate the anchoring to the wall structure. The main face is decorated with plant motifs: around a palm-leaf trefoil there are two water leaves, with thinner engravings; above the central palmette, another smaller one hangs upside down, and above this a tulip with two petals is engraved. The right side is also decorated with a palm-leaf trefoil, but in profile.
The engravings were originally filled with stucco or glass or colored stone fragments, which created vivid contrasts with the white stone base. This technique was called opus interrasile.

Funzione
The capital crowns a vertical element of the architectural structure, such as a column, a pillar, or – as in this case – a pilaster, i.e. a sort of pillar incorporated in the wall and just protruding from the wall surface. In the case of the pilaster, the capital has more a decorative than a structural function; the choice of the technique and the decorative motifs depends on the customer’s personal taste and changes according to the historical moment.

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Luogo di Conservazione: Museum of Glass in Montegrotto Terme

Provenienza: Medieval settlement
Cronologia: XI – XII century A.D. (full-medieval age)

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Descrizione
Fragment of tile inscribed with three concentric squares, intersected halfway by short perpendicular lines; the incisions were practiced after the firing of the clay with a tool of 2 – 4 mm tip. A small bone disc engraved with five circles arranged in the shape of a cross and a central hole can be seen above the tile.

Funzione
The engraved tile is a tablet for the game "Nine Men’s Morris," popular from the XI century. The bone disc is a pawn for the same game.
In medieval Christian culture of rigor and austerity forms of entertainment such as these were not frowned upon; nevertheless people used to play, perhaps in secret, at home, in taverns or on the street.
"Nine Men’s Morris" was a more complicated version of the older "tria" game and involved two players, who controlled nine pieces each. Players had to form a row of three pawns on the same segment of the square before the opponent, moving a checker at a time from the top of the square. This hat trick allowed a player to remove an opponent’s token from the game: remaining with two pawns meant losing.

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Luogo di Conservazione: University of Padua, deposits

Provenienza: Medieval settlement
Cronologia: XV – XVI century A.D. (Late Medieval age and Early Renaissance)

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Descrizione
Top part of the neck of a glass jug; it has a flared rim, entirely preserved, decorative ribs with spiral pattern and, at the base, a collar with the function of finger-stop. The fragment belonged to a jug with long neck and ovoid body, without handles.

Funzione
This type of jug, known in the Venetian dialect since the XII century as "inghistera" or "’nghistera" or "anghistera", was a tableware which served to hold and pour liquids; for Giuseppe Boerio, author in 1829 of the "Dictionary of the Venetian dialect", the term also used to indicate the "measure of wine that is sold in the province of Verona."
To produce it, the glassmaker inserted the vitreous bolus into a mold (called “bronzin”) and then blew it. The jug or "inghistera" was mass produced and had little value, even aesthetic.

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Luogo di Conservazione: University of Padua, deposits.

Provenienza: Villa
Cronologia: 50 – early II century A.D. (Roman Empire)

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Descrizione
Fragment of red marble pilaster capital (maximum size: 12 x 5 cm). The main face shows upper part (abacus) molded with two strips and lower part (area under the abacus) decorated in relief with floral motifs, sometimes protruding on the abacus itself.
The decoration has a central stem of a flower with jagged petals and almond button, tied by an horizontal ribbon to a branch, which ends on the right and left with a four-petal rosette (only the right one is fully preserved); in the lost part of the capital there were probably two other similar rosettes. Traces of an acanthus leaf with jagged edges can be seen on the right side of the preserved rosette. This decoration is part of the so-called Corinthian style.

Funzione
The capital crowns a vertical element of the architectural structure, such as a column, a pillar, or – as in this case – a pilaster, i.e. a sort of pillar incorporated in the wall and just protruding from the wall surface. In the case of the pilaster, the capital has more a decorative than a structural function; the choice of the technique and the decorative motifs depends on the customer’s personal taste and changes according to the historical moment.

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Luogo di Conservazione: University of Padua, deposits

Provenienza: Villa
Cronologia: I century A.D. (beginning of the Roman Empire)

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Descrizione
Fragment of a marble oscillum (diameter of the reconstructed piece: 36 cm); one face presents at the bottom the relief of a female figure, facing right, wearing a tunic dress (chiton), in the act of walking barefoot on a rough terrain towards a rocky altar; the opposite side shows the leg of a relief figure, probably a male, who is wearing a pelt cloak (nebris or pardalis). The female figure is interpretable as a maenad, a devotee of the god Dionysus, while the male as a satyr, a mythological human-like character with animal attributes linked to the Dionysian cult.

Funzione
The oscillum was usually hung with chains or ribbons between the columns of the porticoes that surrounded gardens or courtyards in private homes or public buildings and had a decorative function, thanks to the representations in relief on one or both sides.

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Luogo di Conservazione: University of Padua, deposits

Provenienza: Villa
Cronologia: I century A.D. (early Roman Empire)

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Descrizione
White marble sculpture representing the head of a child. Under the broad and smooth forehead, framed by long and sharp hair locks, the statue has small distant eyes, well defined eyelids, broad nose with small, deep and slightly asymmetrical nostrils, chubby cheeks and opened tiny lips. The back of the head appears rough-hewn and presents a circular hole with traces of rust, suggesting that it belonged to a group of sculptures. It is a work of fair artistic craftsmanship.

Funzione
The sculpture was part of the decoration of the villa. The use of embellishing domestic gardens and porticoed courtyards with small statues or sculptural groups was popular in Roman times in the city and in the countryside.

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Luogo di Conservazione: Museum of Glass in Montegrotto Terme.

Provenienza: Villa
Cronologia: I century A.D. (beginning of the Roman Empire)

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Descrizione
Various fragments of chalcedony furniture legs (measures of the complete objects: height between 3 and 6 cm, diameter between 6 and 10 cm). The objects were originally cylindrical in shape, flared or flattened discoidal; all of them are perfectly smoothed on the outside and provided with a passing hole between the upper and lower flat surfaces.

Funzione
These objects belonged to the legs of a piece of furniture, perhaps a bed, a triclinium, a seat or a throne: the passing hole housed the metal pin for fixing them to a wooden frame. The presence of such objects in a residence, although of great luxury, is exceptional: the only comparison known to date, but in rock crystal instead of chalcedony, comes from the imperial residence of the Horti Lamiani in Rome. The rarity of the objects and the preciousness of the material are evidence of the very high rank of the client who wanted them and who lived in the villa of via Neroniana.

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Luogo di Conservazione: Museum of Glass in Montegrotto Terme

Provenienza: Villa
Cronologia: Late I – early II century A.D. (beginning of the Roman Empire)

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Descrizione
Five fragments of a plane sundial in white marble (measures of the intact object: about 80 x 40 cm). A series of lines forming a two-edged ax design (pelecinum) are etched on the marble slab; the socket for the gnomon can still be recognized in the middle.

Funzione
Sundials were placed both in private houses (as in this case) and in public squares, always outdoor, in areas such as porticoed courtyards and gardens, on the ground or on a platform, in order to be optimally exposed to sunlight. They were prestigious objects, since they were not only decorations, but had to be placed accurately in order to function properly.
The gnomon was the focal point of the clock, because it threw the shadow that allowed to read the time on the lines engraved on the base slab. These lines were converging and gradually more spaced out with respect to the median, which indicated noon; they were also intersected by the equinoctial line and bounded by the hyperbolic curves of the solstices.

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Luogo di Conservazione: University of Padua, deposits

Provenienza: Villa
Cronologia: Beginning of the I century A.D. (early Imperial Period).

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Descrizione
The fragment (maximum size: 14 x 8 cm) was part of a fresco which decorated the inner wall of one of the rooms of the villa. It preserves a woman’s face drawn with elegant stretch, framed by a curly hairstyle adorned with a diadem; the red and blue pattern on the white background is perhaps the drapery of a dress.

Funzione
Frescoes used to decorate the walls of private houses in Roman times, from the modest ones to the most prestigious; the richly colored panels were decorated – depending on the context and fashions – with mythological or daily life or erotic scenes, reproductions of lush gardens, theater sets, more or less realistic architectures and much more. Sometimes the scenes painted on the walls of the same room were based on the same subject; in some cases they were consistent with the function of the room.

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Luogo di Conservazione: University of Padua, deposits

Provenienza: Villa
Cronologia: End of I – III century A.D. (Roman Empire)

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Descrizione
The oil-lamp was found intact. At the center of the disc which covers the fuel chamber there is a pouring hole, communicating with the pick hole located at the end of the nozzle. The disc is smooth (in other specimens it may show figured representations) and has a thin cord in relief which emphasizes its edge and goes uninterruptedly to the nozzle (from which the name “open channel” oil-lamp for this type of object); the body of the lamp has two studs on the sides.
On the bottom, externally, a cartouche with letters in relief says "Vibiani". This is the trademark with the manufacturer’s name, Vibianus, whose workshop – located somewhere in northern Italy – was active between the late I and the III century A.D. The presence of the stamp on the bottom puts this oil-lamp in the "Firmalampen" type.

Funzione
The wick to light the lamp was located in the pick hole and oil or animal fat were used as fuel, by pouring them into the tank through the hole in the disc.
The lamp is one of the most common tools for lighting used in antiquity, with the primary and daily function of illuminating environments during the dark hours. This kind of objects can also be found in relation to the funeral rituals, as a symbol of artificial light that accompanies the deceased in the journey into the darkness of the afterlife.

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Luogo di Conservazione: University of Padua, deposits

Provenienza: Settlement dating between XIV and XII century B.C. (Recent and Final Bronze Age)
Cronologia: half of the XIV – half of the XII century B.C. (Recent and Final Bronze Age)

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Descrizione
Fragments of pottery vessels, made with a textured clay enriched with a temper made by chopping other unusable vessels (this technique is called chamotte or grog) and rock fragments. These specimens are all hand-made (not wheeled) and then fired in special furnaces. Some pieces (1, 7 and 8) are decorated with studs and tablets, i.e. molded clay "balls" placed on the vessel walls before firing; others (4) have applied horizontal cords or festoons, always in clay material.
Careened bowls with handle were the most refined table form and were therefore more fancifully decorated with flashy terminations at the top of the handle (1, 2: "straight-cylinder"), with "rod-shaped" motifs (3) or wide ribbons (9). Grips (5) were also frequent; sometimes they were punched for hanging the vessel or for attaching a lid. 7 is a fragment of an “olla” vessel.
The terracotta spindle whorl (6), found intact, is a small disc of clay with a central hole practiced before firing.

Funzione
Different shapes and sizes of pottery vessels responded to different functions, although, in the past as today, one container could be used for more than one purpose. Large containers were used to hold solids, such as flour and grains; jars were used for the liquids and for the cooking of food; smaller containers, such as bowls and cups, were used for the consumption of food and drinks. The more refined tableware comprised careened bowls with handle, which were characterized by a fine clay body and a better polished surface.
The terracotta spindle-whorl was one of the few imperishable parts of the equipment for the production of textile yarn. It was inserted at the base of the wood spindle and it was used both to facilitate rotation, such as a flywheel, and to stabilize it as a weight.

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Luogo di Conservazione: University of Padua, deposits

Provenienza: From the layers of the Medieval settlement
Cronologia: 2500-2000 B.C. (end of the Copper – beginning of the Bronze Age)

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Descrizione
Flint arrowhead, almost intact, it consists of a triangular blade, carefully refined on both sides (so-called "bifacial working"), with a sharp tip and serrated cutting edges. The base (stalk), now broken, was originally equipped with two short flaps at the ends. The name of this type of arrowhead, with "pedicle and fins", derives from these characteristics.

Funzione
Arrows, and consequently bows, have been the main thrown weapon for men of all latitudes for thousands of years, both for hunting and for war. In use since the late Stone Age (V – IV millennium B.C.), they continued to be made until the end of the II millennium B.C. in flint, such as this, or bone, for reasons of efficiency and cost effectiveness.
The arrow consisted in an arrowhead and a wood rod; feathers were attached to the arrows at the height of the body with strings and mastics, which ensured stability and balance to the weapon during flight. Similar arrows formed the equipment of the famous Iceman, who lived between 3350 and 3100 B.C.
In this case the pedicle was inserted into a natural or artificial split at the top of the rod, which was usually a sucker or a twig of a resistant and elastic cable plant, such as viburnum. The ties were in plant or animal fibers and the tightness of the graft was ensured by mastic resin, as the fins, which were used to limit the lateral movement of the tip on impact. The sharp spire and the jagged edges determined a better effectiveness in penetrating the target.

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Luogo di Conservazione: University of Padua, deposits

Provenienza: Medieval settlement
Cronologia: About 350-375 A.D. (Late Antiquity).

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Descrizione
The bronze fibula was found intact; the arch is rounded with a grooved crest and the bracket (i.e. the straight base) has a rectangular section. The large edge of the bracket, which resembles an onion, has determined the name "onion head" for this type of fibula.

Funzione
A fibula is a brooch, or a pin used for fastening a cloak on the shoulder. In particular, the “onion head” fibula was typical of the clothing of the Roman soldiers stationed in the Danube regions in the first imperial age (I – II century A.D.) and, if gold, it was worn by the emperor in military clothes. Starting from the late imperial age (III century A.D.) the emperor granted it to senior officials of his court as a sign of merit and this explains its wide spread in northern Italy. "Onion head" fibulas continued to be used for centuries as shown by the mosaic of San Vitale in Ravenna (525-547 A.D.), where they are worn by officers in the parade alongside the Emperor Justinian and his wife Theodelinda.

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Luogo di Conservazione: University of Padua, deposits