Les décors peints et stuqués dans les cités des Médiomatriques et des Leuques, Ier- IIIe siècle p.C., II. Agglomération et villa

This book presents the second part of the results of collective research project whose title is : the Gallo-roman wall paintings about territories of Leuci and Mediomatrici. In succession of a first volume devoted to mural and ceiling paintings from Metz-divodurum, it offers an in-depth corpus (compilation), mostly inpublished, discovered in several secondary agglomerations and ancient villae of Lorraine. It takes into consideration paintings and stuccos from old or new, programmed and rescue excavations whose documentation served as a support for the analysis of contexts, as a guide for the essential phase of assembling the fragments and for the study of the resulting architectural assemblies.

The first chapters are devoted to the historical framework of the cities of Leuci and Mediomatrici whose administrative and legal status evolved from the 1st to the 4th century in the province of Gallia Belgica, and then to the history of research.

This one highlights clear evolution of the treatment of the wall paintings, since the time when only fragments with a pattern were collected until the development of a discipline the “toïchographology” that uses much more elaborate sampling and study methods.

The presentation of paintings per site, mainly houses, artisanal buildings and public and private thermal bath, concerns first the city of Mediomatrici, then that of the Leuci.

All the data collected makes it possible to highlight, at the regional level, the issue of carrying out, the quality and the economy of mural paintings. This comprehensive approach finally offers the possibility to reflect about the composition of the walls and the decorative repertory that embellish them, about the milestones during the evolution of best documented decorative schemes and about the question of decorative programs according to the nature of the spaces.

This research is the fruitful result of a collective and inter-institutional work involving researchers from local authorities, the CNRS, universities, Inrap and archaeological associations.