Choosing a polished plaster wall is about choosing not just longevity and structural rigidity but also making an artistic statement, opting for interior design choices that celebrate the beauty of materials and aim to make a long-lasting artistic statement.
Whilst the revitalisation of Marmarino and other forms of Venetian plaster emerged in recent decades thanks to the works of architects and artists like Carlo Scarpa, his work, and the work of anyone who specialises in using plaster, originates earlier than the world’s first civilisations.
The earliest civilisation in human history, Mesopotamia, started to develop from a cultural collective into a nation of cities around 7,400 years ago. The first plaster sculptures are 2000 years older than this.
The Plaster Skulls Of Ancient Jericho
In the early 1930s in Jericho, modern-day Palestine, an archaeologist by the name of John Garstang accidentally unearthed a plaster skull that changed everything we knew about the nature, prevalence and use of the material.
Later digs at the location in the 1950s by Kathleen Kenyon led to the discovery of several of these skulls, one of which is on display at the British Museum.
The skulls, which date to around 7000 BC, exist at a rather remarkable transition point in the history of art and architecture, existing just before the age of pottery and clay would radically change both of these worlds.
The skulls in question had their jawbones removed and were coated in a natural plaster produced in the way later found in Ancient Egypt, with burned gypsum crushed into powder and mixed with water to create smooth facades and mortars.
Here, however, the plastered skulls were used to cover the entire face, with noses and mouths sculpted manually and the eye holes filled in with shells. Features such as hair were painted on.
This makes them the earliest examples of portrait sculpture and some of the oldest examples of portraits at all in early art.
Several architects noted the remarkable sophistication when it came to the materials and how they were used, suggesting that plaster sculpture had been used for such a long time that it had become a skill that could be learned, mastered and shared with others even at this stage.
There remain a lot of questions that are perhaps impossible to answer surrounding their origin, meaning and importance.
The skulls in question were from all ages and genders with no discernable pattern, and they were plastered in a way that suggests they were meant to tilt backwards, buried under the floors of houses.
Some archaeological experts have suggested it was a form of head-hunting, and the skulls represent the trophies of targets or enemies, but little proof has been found to support this theory.
The most common theory instead is that it relates to Neolithic-era burial practices, supported by the fact that during this time dead people were buried under their own homes by their families.
The plaster skull could be a way to celebrate them and ensure they lived forever, which also explains the ornate nature of their construction.
The delicate details found in these skulls shaped the later use of plaster in the region, which was adopted by the Romans particularly after they conquered the region and later spread around the world.
