Wall decoration (extant)

Thomas Staub

Most of decorations are today faded away, some remains of the overall scheme and some colour fragments are still visible, mainly on the west and north walls. On the west wall, the tripartition of the wall in a socle, -middle, -and upper zone is clearly visible. The socle zone is 0.65 m high and shows no remains of decorations except some fragment of red colour. The middle zone is separated from the socle by a 0.05 m high white stripe and stretches up to 2.10 m height. This zone was probably divided into three fields, whereby the door towards V 1, 3 takes up most of the area of the southernmost field. The 0.90 m wide middle field seems to have been dark, maybe black, grounded with an inscribed (width 0.50 m and height 0.90 m, 0.30 m above dividing stripe to the socle) section with blue colour. This section was framed by either yellow or red stripes (above and under yellow colour fragments, at the sides red fragments), app. 0.03 m wide; the upper frame may have consisted of two parallel stripes, together 0.03 m high.
A red, 0.16 m wide, vertical stripe, framed by a 0.005 m wide line of unknown colour, divides the middle field from the northern one. In this stripe, the shadowy remains of a probable candelabrum (width 0.02 m) with a round adornment (diam. 0.045 m), at 1.05 m height can be observed. The northern side field is 0.69 m wide and seems to have been dark grounded as well. Between 1.65 m (at the sides) and 1.50 m high, a rounded line is visible, probably remains of a painted garland. To the north of the side field follows a 0.27 m wide, probably red, stripe and then, finally, a 0.05 m wide white corner lesene.
An app. 0.05 m high horizontal line of unknown colour divides the main zone from the upper one. The upper zone is nearly totally lost, only the continuity of the red dividing stripe between the middle and side fields is still discernible.
On the north wall, which is in an even worse state of conservation, more or less the same scheme as on the west wall is recognisable, with slightly divergent width measurements, due to the difference of the width of the walls. The eastern part of the decorations, between the middle field and the door towards ala 14, is totally lost. On this wall, the preserved side field and the middle field have the same width of 0.80 m, the inscribed blue section, once again 0.50 m wide; the other elements have the dimensions as on the west wall. In 3.45 m height, a red, 0.07 m high, horizontal stripe, as part of the decorations of the upper zone, is visible. These decorations are probably determined by the now lost decorations of the south wall, since a symmetrical reconstruction of the entire decorations would produce a width corresponding to the width of the wall (3.40 m, less the thickness of the plaster on the west and east walls ï‚» 3.34 m for the reconstructed decorations). Only remains of the south-west corner lesene and of the adjoining red side stripe are preserved on the south wall. The lesene is protruding round a corner towards the north, probably it originally continued over a wooden doorframe in the door towards V 1,7.