La Tomba Degli Stucchi Figurati Al IV Miglio Della Via Latina

The Tomb of the "Stucchi Figurati" at the fourth mile of the Via Latina stands out in the panorama of Roman funerary monuments of the late Republican period because of its articulated architectural structure and the white stucco decorative apparatus that covers it. The tomb consists of a burial chamber, originally accessible through a long corridor, equipped with steps. Above it stood a partially preserved structure, which can perhaps be reconstructed as an aedicule on a podium, bordered by a quadrangular plan enclosure. The motifs that adorn the tomb depend on a broad iconographic and stylistic repertoire codified within the framework of Greek culture of the Middle and Late Hellenistic age and fall within the semantic system of late republican Roman art. The decorative apparatus of this monument has a high documentary value, thanks also to its state of preservation, placing it in the groove of a broader tradition of stucco art, of which it represents an important piece, and constitutes a fundamental testimony for the reconstruction of the evolutionary lines of an artistic craftsmanship of which much remains to be investigated.