In 1996 an exceptional find was made at the Roman villa in Els Munts, a majestic residence near Altafulla in Tarragona. It was a ceiling, exceptional both because of its size, 15 square metres and, above all, because of its structure. The restoration of this ceiling was like putting a massive jigsaw puzzle back together again. This is the story of how it was done.
A Roman Empire unicum
Archaeologists use the word unicum to describe something that is unique, the only one of its kind. In this case the unicum is this coffered ceiling because, throughout the entire expanse of the Roman Empire, no other ceiling like this, on various levels, has ever been found. During the Roman period, ceilings were usually flat.
The ceiling of the Roman villa in Els Munts was discovered in 1996. It was broken into more than 3,000 pieces. It was a puzzle that kept the archaeologists busy for a long time before they realised that it was a coffered structure. It took eighteen years to return it to its former splendour.
Restauration of the Els Munts ceiling
Detail of a sunken panel depicting a maenad (MNAT)
Detail of the sunken panelling
The restoration process, a real challenge
The Centre for the Restoration of Artefacts of Catalonia (CRBMC) used the Central Services building of the Museu Nacional Arqueològic de Tarragona (MNAT) to carry out the final stages of the restoration. This phase commenced in 2005, after a first phase of study, cleaning and initial reconstruction.
The restoration team was faced with a real challenge because of the ceiling’s large size, some 15 square metres. Not only did they have to assemble the 3,000 pieces of this huge jigsaw puzzle, but they also had to respect the integrity of the ceiling in its entirety, that is to say, all the support and structure of the stone and plaster, elements of great scientific and archaeological value.
The conservation team working to restore the ceiling
The restoration process (CRBMC)
The conservation team working to restore the ceiling
The puzzle
In order to move the ceiling and study it in greater detail the structure was divided into 42 panels. The final restoration process was carried out in three phases.
The first phase consisted of working with the visible parts of the ceiling to put the 3,000 pieces together as if it were a giant jigsaw puzzle.
The second phase consisted of turning the ceiling over onto glass plates in order to study the other side and fix the pieces together with plaster.
The final third phase consisted of turning everything over again in order to reveal the visible side once more in order to clean the paint, fill the cracks with coloured plaster and retouch the colours using the tratteggio technique. Tratteggio retouch makes it possible for all the fragments of the ceiling to be visually integrated and, once at the museum, visitors are afforded a view of what the whole ceiling originally looked like.
This project was coordinated by the CRBMC and the MNAT and carried out by the Arcobaleno company.
Division of the ceiling into 42 panels (CRBCM)
During this phase of the restoration process the pieces were turned over onto a plate of glass
Filling the cracks with coloured plaster and retouching the colours using the tratteggio technique
The tratteggio technique is a restoration process that enables the fragments to be integrated by colour
Division of the ceiling into 42 panels to facilitate its movement and study
What does the puzzle depict?
The ceiling's ornamentation is very elaborate with geometric and floral decoration around the perimeter and four panels depicting the four seasons of the year. There are two more panels in the centre depicting maenads, allegorical figures, followers of Dionysus, god of wine and festivities.
The reverse side of the pieces is also noteworthy. While the paint is preserved on the visible side, the reverse side still shows imprints from the ropes, woodwork and parts of the joists that held the ceiling in place.
Detail showing the condition of one of the panels before restoration (CRBMC)
Panels depicting the four seasons: a) spring, b) summer, c) winter, d) autumn (MNAT. Ramon Cornadó)
Detail of the panels
Panels depicting maenads (MNAT. Ramon Cornadó)
Reverse side of the ceiling (MNAT)
Detail of the reverse side of the ceiling on a plate glass support (MNAT)
Detail of the reverse side of the ceiling with the new support base (MNAT)
A villa by the sea
During the Roman period Tarraco was the capital of Hispania Citerior. The Roman villa of Les Munts was built twelve kilometres from the city, in today's Altafulla, with good communications by road and in an ideal location on a hill overlooking the sea. Of exceptional size and luxury this country residence dates from the beginning of the 2nd century CE and was intended for the leisure and recreation of the Tarraco elite. Today it is one of the best preserved aristocratic residential buildings in the whole of Roman Hispania. It is listed as World Heritage by UNESCO and the house, the baths and other areas can be visited by the public.
The ensemble is outstanding for its archaeological remains and for the wealth of its decorative elements. Amongst other things to be seen are paintings, mosaics, statues, fountains, artificial pools, pillars and marble plaques.
Although only the ground floor of the villa now remains, we know that it once had two floors. The upper floor was arranged around a large interior courtyard with a pond, containing fish, in the centre. This floor housed the most noble rooms and it had a gallery commanding views of the garden and the sea. There were more rooms on the ground floor and a large dining room, or triclini. A passageway that opened onto the garden led to the baths with their cold (frigidarium) and hot (caldarium) water baths. But the villa did not end there. The remains continue on to the beach.
The reason for the building being so exceptional could lie in the fact that Emperor Hadrian stayed in Tarraco during the winter of 122 to 123 CE in order to preside an assembly of notables. What we do know for certain is that Caius Valerius Avitus, a high-ranking Imperial officer and chief magistrate (duumvir)of Tarraco and his wife Faustina, resided at the villa during the middle of the second century. During their stay the residential area underwent a series of refurbishments and extensions. Avitus installed a cistern in one of the rooms on the ground floor to provide water for the much enlarged building for baths to the south of the villa.
Aerial view of the Roman villa in Els Munts (MNAT)
Reconstruction of the residential area by Hugo Prades (MNAT)
The Roman villa in Els Munts. View of the statues around the frigidarium to the south (MNAT)
Reconstruction of the residential area by Hugo Prades (MNAT)
View of the cryptoportico decorated with mosaics and mural paintings (CRBMC)
Detail of the cryptoportico mosaic (MNAT)
Visitors viewing the villa's hypocaust (MNAT)
Visitors viewing the cryptoportico (MNAT)
Visitors viewing the cistern, known popularly as the Tartana (MNAT)
The discovery of the ceiling
The coffered ceiling was located in one of the rooms that gave onto the passageway on the lower ground floor. During the mid-1990s excavation commenced on a large mosaic floor in the passageway. In 1995 this part was excavated but the villa's real treasure remained to be found.
A year later, as the rooms were being excavated, the ceiling was discovered. It had collapsed at an unknown time between the 5th and 6th centuries CE and broken into some 3,000 pieces.
Excavation of the collapsed ceiling in situ (1996) (Codex Archive MNAT)
Room from the cryptoportico where the coffered ceiling was found (CRBMC)
From Els Munts to the MNAT
Once the restoration work has been completed the 42 panels of the ceiling will be taken to the MNAT and put together once more in situ as one complete ceiling.
The ceiling will be on display for the first time at the Museu Nacional Arqueològic de Tarragona when it reopens.
Facade of the Museu Nacional Arqueològic de Tarragona (MNAT)
