Braiding Fruits and Flowers as a Wish of Prosperity and Victory over Death in the Carved Festoons of Ancient Rome.

ABSTRACT: Plant motifs had a significant role in ancient cultures, with decorative, artistic, and communicative values. However, little knowledge exists of the botanical composition of festoons, widely used in Greek-Roman art. We analysed 81 festoons, exclusively from sculpture artworks, collected from 13 museums and archaeological sites in Rome (1st century BC-3rd century AD). Using iconographic sources and previous data, we identified the represented species and analysed their abundance and composition using statistical methods (Cluster Analysis, Principal Components Analysis) and diversity indexes (Shannon and Evenness). We documented 3081 botanical elements, identifying 30 taxa, in which fruits with leaves (45%) or alone (10%) represented the most common ones. Laurus nobilis and Quercu

SUBMITTER: Lazzara A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11478656 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature