WALL PAINTINGS, WALL MOSAICS, AND MARBLE WALL REVETMENTS IN EARLY CHRISTIAN CHURCHES OF THE SOUTHERN LEVANT
WALL PAINTINGS, WALL MOSAICS, AND MARBLE WALL REVETMENTS IN EARLY CHRISTIAN CHURCHES OF THE SOUTHERN LEVANT

Author(s): Julia Burdajewicz
Subject(s): Archaeology
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: wall paintings; wall mosaics; marble wall revetments; decorative pavements; Early Christian churches; Levant; prices; raw materials; workmanship
Summary/Abstract: This paper examines the underexplored subject of the wall decorations of Early Christian churches. In its first part, the evidence of the presence of wall paintings, wall mosaics, and marble wall revetments in Early Christian churches of the Levant is presented. For each of the listed sites, the type of paving employed is considered. From this juxtaposition of recorded types of wall and floor decorations emerge two principal decorative schemes: one involving wall paintings coupled with opus tessellatum, the other featuring wall mosaics combined with marble wall revetment and pavements. It is proposed that both aesthetic and monetary reasons account for the development of these two schemes and that the choice of either of these schemes reflects the prominence of the church or the wealth of the patron. The value of particular types of decorative techniques considering both the costs of materials and of the workmanship is examined in the last section of this paper.

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