A painted portrait from the Augustan period in the Municipium Augusta Bilbilis (Calatayud, Zaragoza, Spain)

Bibliographic Data

ID12374073
AuthorsLara Íñiguez Berrozpe (0000-0001-5006-8693, Universidad de Zaragoza, corresponding author), Francisca Lobera Corsetti (Freelance Archaeologist), Carmen Guiral Pelegrín (0000-0002-3391-4736, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia)
Year2025
Volume38
Issue1
Pages172-204
Publication date2025-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Roman Archaeology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1047-7594 • E-ISSN: 2331-5709
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s1047759425100354
OpenAlexW4412640140
LanguageEN
References cited27

This analysis focuses on a young female portrait enclosed within an eight-pointed frame, located in the upper zone of a wall fragment discovered among a substantial assemblage of painted plaster within the fill of the torcularium of the Domus del Larario in the Municipium Augusta Bilbilis. The wall to which this fragment originally belonged likely formed part of a cubiculum within the same domus. The portrait is dated to the last quarter of the 1st c. BCE, making it the earliest known example of its kind to date. This study examines the potential significance of the portrait within one of the most prominent domus of the site, as well as its role in the broader figurative program of the wall it once adorned. In the middle zone of the composition, a couple is portrayed in a highly schematic manner. Together with the young female – likely their daughter – this may represent one of the earliest Roman depictions of a family group in a non-funerary context

Aesthetics · Ancient history · Art · Art history · Period (music · Portrait · Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History · Archaeological and Historical Studies · Historical and Architectural Studies · History

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