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Diverging Trends in the Visual Appearance of Fired Clay in Roman Architecture: ‘Campana Plaques’ and Terracotta Façades

This article addresses aesthetic, functional and semantic aspects of the material clay/ terracotta in Roman architecture and possible changes to these aspects over time. In particular, the focus lies on ‘Campana plaques’, a class of Roman architectural terracottas used in the upper parts of architectural structures. My aim is to provide a phenomenological overview of general design tendencies, and to contribute to the interpretation of large-scale plaques from the Palatine in Rome, which have recently been regarded as important evidence for a special appreciation of clay in the era of Augustus. In order to complement this (inevitably partial) insight into the manifold ways in which terracotta was used and shaped for architectural surfaces, this paper includes a second case study focussed on exposed terracotta façades. After a short overview, each section first turns to the usage of clay and its visual appearance(s) in the particular cases, and then approaches possible semantics tied to clay during this period of its use. Both cases relate to the metropolis or its immediate surroundings and belong to the late 1st century B.C. and the 2nd century A.D., respectively.