Herculaneum: Conservation of the Tablinum of the House of the Bicentenary

This project aims to improve the conservation of decorated surfaces at ancient Roman sites buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE and later excavated and restored through a pilot project to study and conserve frescoes and a floor mosaic at the House of the Bicentenary in Herculaneum, Italy. It encompasses background research, scientific study, environmental monitoring and interventions, treatment, maintenance, and dissemination of methods and results to the conservation field.

Based on results of the preliminary studies and condition assessment, the team developed methods and materials to stabilize the wall paintings and tested passive climate improvement strategies.

Following conservation treatment of the architectural surfaces in the tablinum, a plan for post-treatment monitoring and maintenance was developed by the project team.

• Plaster and paint stabilization, cleaning, filling of cracks and losses, and visual reintegration of the wall paintings at the House of the Bicentenary in Herculaneum, Italy
• The final phase of the project addressed the conservation of the mosaic pavement, followed by post-treatment monitoring and maintenance.
• A survey approximates the number of in situ figurative scenes across Herculaneum and documents these in terms of location, imagery, technique of execution, and condition, providing an inventory that enables comparisons.
• A solar-powered autonomous environmental monitoring station, which measures the site climate and environmental conditions of the walls and the wall paintings in the tablinum, was installed in 2011 to conduct more focused measurements. Data is autonomously downloaded by the Conservation Institute at fifteen-minute intervals, and an extranet site posts current and past environmental conditions.
• Based on the information from the environmental monitoring, the project team installed a screen door at the garden side of the tablinum to reduce and mitigate high fluctuations of relative humidity and air temperature, and for protection from wind, rain, and light exposure on the wall paintings.
• A comprehensive conservation plan for the House of the Bicentenary has been developed in the context of work undertaken by the Herculaneum Conservation Project and the Archaeological Park of Herculaneum.
• The project has contributed to the training of young conservation professionals through short- and long-term internships.
• As part of the project’s graphic documentation, the team has developed an iIllustrated glossary to describe terms related to original technique, previous interventions, and conditions.
• A bibliography on original materials and techniques of Roman wall painting; characterization of Roman wall painting and mosaic materials; conservation of Roman wall paintings and mosaics; and site context.

To address conservation issues of the decorated architectural surfaces in the tablinum, the Conservation Institute, in collaboration with the Herculaneum Conservation Project and the Archaeological Park of Herculaneum, initiated a pilot project to study and conserve the decorated surfaces, following a methodological approach that can be applied to wall paintings showing similar problems in the Vesuvian region.

Leslie Rainer, Susan Macdonald, Thomas Roby

Herculaneum Conservation Project, Archaeological Park of Herculaneum

GCI Council