Lapidarium
The burial sites and columbaria of the classical world provided 17th and 18th century antiquarians with a wealth of Greek and Latin memorial inscriptions. Although inscriptions were not collected with the same level of enthusiasm as statuary or sculptural reliefs, they still featured prominently in the sculpture gardens and galleries of noble palazzi, and in papal collections.
Fragments of sculpture, architectural reliefs, and broken inscriptions were often displayed together in a lapidarium, or ‘stone room.’ In this context, inscriptions were no longer collected solely for their linguistic value. Instead they were also displayed for their aesthetic qualities, as objets d’art in their own right.
The increasing interest in inscriptions, both academic and aesthetic, led to a flurry of archaeological activity. The most desirable locations were naturally the great burial sites of ancient Rome, such as along the Via Appia, the Porta Salaria, and the Esquiline Hill.