Romano-British architecture
- Gallery: Room 49
- Culture: Romano-British
- Date: 4thC
- Object type: architecture
- Materials: plaster
- Museum number: 1967,0407.1.b
- Museum: The British Museum
- Collection record: British Museum website
- Image © The Trustees of the British Museum, shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.
Listen to the free audio guide
About this object
Before you is a reconstructed section of a Romano-British plaster wall painting. The piece shows a colonnade made up of seven columns—alternating between blue and red—with half-columns at each end. Between the columns, six human figures stand in a gesture of prayer, with arms outstretched. This pose of upraised hands is still used today by Christian priests during certain prayers.
The painting comes from Lullingstone Roman Villa in Kent and dates to the fourth century AD. It was part of a room repurposed as a Christian place of worship. The owners of the villa converted to Christianity during a time when home chapels were more common than formal churches.
Made in plaster and painted, this artwork offers a rare look at how early Christians may have gathered in private spaces. The figures and colors give us a sense of the dignity and devotion that once filled this room.
See it in person
Romano-British architecture is on display in Room 49 at the British Museum on Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London — free to enter. Choose British Museum on audioguide.london and take a photo of it to hear this free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
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