Colour Schemes in Roman Architecture. Aesthetics, Semantics, and Regional Appropriation

Roman architecture was characterised by a rich palette of colours, achieved through the use of natural coloured stones and painting. This conference volume is the first book entirely dedicated to the polychromy of architectural orders in the Roman provinces. Its objectives are to present new data, to explore the visual effects for which colour was used on architectural elements, and to collate observations on the functional, chronological and regional variation. The volume brings together the contributions of twenty-five archaeologists, ancient historians, art historians and chemists, encompassing a wide chronological frame from the 2nd century BC to the 3rd century AD and covering a geographical range from modern Spain, France, Switzerland, Italy, and Austria to Turkey, Cyprus, Lebanon, and Libya.