Architectural terracottas are often the best preserved features of religious and domestic architecture in Archaic Central Italy. Tiles, antefixes, and fragments of reliefs and acroteria enable us not only to reconstruct roofs and building phases, but also to assess the technical and cultural backgrounds of Archaic craftmanship and society. It is now generally accepted that terracotta roof decoration is crucial to the integral study of the past. This volume is the outcome of a round table, held at the Netherlands Institute in Rome on June 12-13, 1996.
Twentyfive experts look at architectural decoration from a variety of angles.
They discuss reconstructions, typologies, and the iconography of figured motives. Their contributions include material from Central Italy and Campania, as well as from Sicily. Special attention has been given to technical aspects of the production of architectural terracottas and to modern scientific analysis.