Wall painters in Herodian Judea

Palaces, towns, and country houses in the Roman world were usually beautifully decorated-covered with wall paintings, stucco ornaments, and floor mosaics, producing a scheme of interior decoration that, to this very day, astonishes the viewer with its amazing complexity. Roman styles of interior decoration became part of monumental art in Palestine and other provinces of the Roman Empire. The palaces and fortresses built by Herod display one of the most important examples of this trend. Not all these structures have been excavated extensively, but those that have-Cypros, Herodium, Masada, and Jericho-yielded both fresco fragments and decorated walls in situ, together with plaster moldings, mosaics, opus sectile, and terra-cotta fragments (Netzer and Laureys-Chachy 2004: 233 ff.; Corbo 1989; Foerster 1995; Rozenberg 2008: 337-64). The history and development of each decorative category and the appearance of similar motifs and techniques can illuminate cultural and regional connections.