I mosaici delle catacombe romane, descritti e illustrati tra Seicento e Ottocento: osservazioni preliminari

The mosaic decorations of the Roman catacombs are still lacking in an organic dissertation, as the analytical approach to this subject is affected by the problems related to the conservation status and the scarcity of the surviving materials. In any case, the cataloguing of reports relating to the find of mosaics during surveys in the Roman catacombs has allowed us to outline the protagonists of the main discoveries that took place between the 17th and 19th centuries and to make some considerations on the methods used by the scholars of Christian antiquities in the treatment of this particular class of artifacts.