Rome, Domus Aurea, Cryptoportico 19
Date
Saturday February 11th, 2017
DATA SHEET
LOCATION:
Rome, Domus Aurea Street
CUSTOMER:
Archaeological Superintendency of Rome – Work management and RUP, Dr. Fedora Filippi
Operations Management – Rest. Maria Bartoli
PERIOD OF THE INTERVENTION:
November 2011 – November 2012
THE PROBLEM
The walls of the cryptoporticus, 60 meters long, today are about six meters high over the vault; they have been plastered with a pozzolanic mortar of 3 cm spread on a double layer. The monitoring implemented with the so called “knocking” on the surfaces showed the presence of a series of cavities placed at regular intervals, blotted with a mortar much more compact and with a more subtle granulometry then the two pozzolanic layers.
From a conservative point of view the walls’ plaster showed lighted wide dismantling zones, which were essentially held in place by the presence of numerous nails and concrete curbs applied during previous interventions. Some areas had serious problems of lack of cohesion of the mortar while, especially towards the final part (Southern), there are layers of highly carbonated excavated earth, consistent and adherent to the plaster layers.
THE METHOD
Mostly the intervention was aimed at the stabilization of the plaster and the cleaning of the surface and the biological patinas deposits.
We therefore limited to investigate and observe the paint film, or rather those of the paint film portions visible because not obscured by salt layers.
During the intervention there have been made dowels of cleaning at significant points or where the thickness and the composition of the crusts of carbonates were of greater technical and scientific interest.
