Wall decoration (extant)

Thomas Staub

The decorations of this room are mostly destroyed, only on the south and west walls, some isolated fragments of colour can be observed. Only at the western section of the north wall, parts of the decoration scheme can be recognized. A stuccoed frieze probably adorned the walls in app. 3.35 - 3.50 m height (see above, description south, west and north walls).
The north wall is largely covered by plaster, up to 2.60 - 3.10 m height. At 2.15 m to the east from the north-west corner, a 0.15 m wide vertical slit is visible in the plaster, placed over the inner edge of the substructure for the cupboard. To the east of this slit, the plaster continues until the western frame of the niche of the closed off door. At the eastern side of this slit, the plaster forms a corner, protruding into the room for a few milimeters, thus indicating that this plaster was applied after the insertion of the cupboard. The western side in contrast shows no such corner. Here maybe the existing plaster was cut off for the insertion of a wooden frame for the cupboard. However, since modern concrete covers the edge of the plaster, it is not possible to examine it more closely. Above the decorated plaster, between the slit and the niche of the closed off door (in 3.00 - 3.35 m height), remains of an under plaster with traces of pickings are visible, maybe remains from the earlier decoration phase.
In the western section of the wall, the socle zone seems to have been app. 0.90 m high, consisting of several horizontal stripes on top of each other. The lowest one, with yellow and red colour remains, is 0.30 m high, the following, dark one app. 0.15 m, then a yellow stripe, app. 0.22 m high with a thin (0.005 m) red line in its lower part, followed by a 0.22 - 0.25 m high stripe of unknown colour. Above this, the middle zone followed up to 2.50 m height, concluded by an app. 0.20 m high horizontal stripe. This zone was probably originally composed of three wall fields, of which the easternmost was eliminated when the cupboard was inserted. These fields are 0.70 m wide and probably painted in a light red colour, each with a 0.06 m wide frame of darker red. App. 0.17 m wide vertical stripes separate these fields from each other. In the north-west corner, a 0.13 m wide stripe still shows some fragments of yellow and red colours. This stripe, probably remains of painted columns, continues into the upper zone, of which no other traces are preserved.
In the eastern section of the wall, only some traces near the corner of the vertical slit in the plaster are preserved, showing remains of a 0.15 m wide vertical stripe, preserved between 0.65 m and 2.50 m height, with, at least in its lower parts, a 0.015 m wide red line directly at the corner.