Roman murals from the past
17 July 2007
New Culture Secretary, Margaret Hodge and Sophie Jackson, Museum of London archaeologist, enjoy a sneak preview of some rare Roman murals from about 120AD, found under an Italian take away in London.
The murals will be on public display at Museum of London for the first time for this weekend only as part of the museum’s Roman weekend celebrations for National Archaeology Week.
The plaster is from one room in a high status Roman building, thought to date from 120 AD. The beautiful segments, which feature birds, vines and candelabra, form part of one of the best collections of Roman painted wall plaster from London and were discovered on a site on Lime Street, by the edge of Leadenhall Market in the City of London by the Museum of London Archaeology Service.
Margaret Hodge, Minister for Culture, said:
“It is astounding that we are still discovering parts of Roman London under the pavements we walk every day. This ancient mural may compare to those in Pompeii, and thanks to the skills of our archaeologists and museum staff we can see how Anglo-Roman Londoners carried out their own interior decoration. It is a thrill to see such a rare work of art up close. I hope National Archaeology Week prompts thousands of people to explore this hidden heritage on their doorsteps, and learn more about our neighbours from the past.”
Sophie Jackson, from the Museum of London Archaeology Service, said:
‘This is an amazing discovery because it allows us to reconstruct the decoration within a Roman London room from the early second century. It is incredibly rare to have this much decorated plaster of such high artistic quality.'
The murals will be on public display on 21 and 22 July 2007 as part of the Museum of London’s “Rome, Sweet Home” weekend for National Archaeology Week.
There will be demonstrations of Roman building crafts, opportunities to handle real Roman objects and see what Roman Londoners wore.
Saturday 21 July 11am-4:30pm
Sunday 22 July 12:30-5pm
FREE
Museum of London
London Wall
EC2Y 5HN
Nearest tubes: St Paul’s/Barbican/Moorgate
Public enquiries 0870 444 3850
http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/
For high resolution versions of the images or more information please contact Clea Relly at the Museum of London press office on 020 7814 5503 / 079 327 323 96 or at crelly@museumoflondon.org.uk.