Il Grande Ninfeo della Villa dei Quintili a Roma. Studio della pavimentazione
In: Quaderni dell'Istituto di Storia dell'Architettura: 73-74, 2021
DOI: 10.48255/J.QISA.2532-4470.N.S.2021.151
The Great Nymphaeum of the Villa dei Quintili in Rome. A study of the flooring
The Villa dei Quintili at the 5th mile of the via Appia is one of the most spectacular suburban archaeological
sites in Rome. Current structures are the result of many and different construction, re-use and restoration
phases. Although the first installation – supported by the consuls Sextus Quintilius Condianus and Sextus
Quintilius Valerius Maximus during the ages of Trajan and Hadrian – must have already been grandiose, it
was further extended and decorated several times after 182 A.D., when the Villa became imperial property.
The aim of this study was to analyse the flooring of the Great Nymphaeum, built by Commodus in the S-W
sector. Due to its poorly aesthetic value, this floor was little appreciated, and that circumstance jeopardised
its conservation through time. Focusing on the historical and documentary value of this specific element,
present investigations demonstrate the connections linking all the architecture, from the main structure
to the minute details.