Introduction

          This time, our group concentrated on Medieval Ornaments, with greater attention to formal themes, such as shapes, lines, proportions, colors, and materials employed. We decided to visit the museum of the Crypta Balbi, which is part of the Roman National Museum and is situated in the center of Rome, within a larger architectural complex, including the Theatrum Balbi, the churches of Santa Caterina dei Funerari, and of San Stanislao dei Polacchi, and of course the Crypta Balbi itself. The museum of the Crypta Balbi is primarily interesting for its detailed documentation of the urban evolution throughout the ages of the area in which it actually resides nowadays. Moreover, large sections of the museum are devoted to archaeological findings linked with handicraft, such as everyday items, luxury jewellery, and funerary objects, in order to highlight the continuity between the 7^th and 10^th centuries CE quality and singularity of products. Such a copious collection has been made possible thanks to the 2000 years of stratigraphy that has been met in the exedra of the Crypta Balbi, which was previously part of the theatre. As a matter of fact, in the 2^nd century AD, it was converted first into a latrine, then, in the 7^th century it became a small necropolis, and finally, between the 8^th and 9^th centuries, it was turned into a lime kiln. For this reason, it constitutes a fundamental key to understand the development and history of the site and Rome's material culture.

Stirrup buckle in goldplated silver of the Ostrogoth type
(first half of 6th century)-Crypta Balbi

          More interesting for our iconography theme were the rooms relating to Late Antiquity Roman daily objects, in which we found an abundant collection of both clothing and jewellery, such as refined and precious necklaces, earrings, female and male fibulas, elegant bracelets, veil and hair pins, and stirrups, made of gold, silver, and bronze, and decorated with fine and meticulous carved patterns, some of which perfectly preserved. More surprisingly, there were many toilet accessories, including ivory, horn and bone combs, perfume containers, and even parts of fans, some of which are also found in female and male tombs as grave goods. Regarding luxury wares, there are some examples of these fabulous treasures accumulated by the Senate aristocracy, such as household items made of bronze, ceramic, and glass, which, as described by the museum label, were mainly decorated with carved traditional motifs, including the myth of the labours of Hercules, which was, however, re-interpreted with a new philosophical meaning, or the representation of Oceano.

Bronze ewer pan incised with scenes of marine life and a central figure of Oceano(from the area of the Pretestato Cemetery; 4th century) Used in banquet service to rinse hands

          Subsequently, several decorative elements with heraldic emblems of Roman medieval families, such as the Colonna, the Corvini, the Mastroluca, and the Savelli, and three interesting seals with religious engravings and inscriptions testimony the importance of these ruling classes during the 13^th and 14^th centuries in Rome. 
          We finally found a specific section focusing on medieval pottery and its development according to the changes of the urban population. Therefore, the exhibition presents  not only some early Roman pottery of African production, which is mainly decorated with either carved or embossed motifs, but also the 11^th and 12^th centuries pottery, which maintains a strong continuity with the early medieval one, and whose mass production is based on homogenous repetitive formal and technical processes.

Seal of Giacomo, archipresbiter of S.Maria domine Rose
Crypta Balbi, 13th century (sketch)

          In this way, it has been possible to understand some typical aspects of life in Rome between the 5^th century, after the end of the Western Roman Empire, and the 14^th century. Indeed, during this time, the city experienced many different social and economic conditions, leading to the creation of a new urban set, that is the Medieval one, whose importance is mainly derived from its new Christian focus. Most important is the fact that, at the end of the 4th century, emperors no longer resided in Rome; however, the city remained the ideal capital, and the Senate was still hosted there. Moreover, after a period of great anxiety due to the invasion of "Barbarians" in 410 and 455 AD, the city fell into decline. In spite of this, after the deposition of the last emperor in the West in 476, art regained full recognition by the "Berbarians" emperors Theodoric and Odoacer, who respected Roman traditions. Therefore, Rome became an incredibly faceted city, whose multi-cultural features spread in the artistic production of that time, thanks to ancient Roman, Byzantine, and even Ostrogoth contributions.


(Sources mainly from museum labels and didactic documentation on site)