Vasari Art Codex

vast roman villa under excavation in france 2656060

Archaeologists from the French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (Inrap) have uncovered a massive 43,000-square-foot Roman villa at Sainte-Nitasse in Auxerre, France, during excavations ahead of a road construction project. The villa, dating from the 1st to 3rd centuries C.E., features a central garden with a basin and fountain, thermal baths with an underfloor heating system, and rooms including a reception room, kitchen, and working area. Previously known from 19th-century records and a 1960s dig that revealed a smaller 7,500-square-foot building, the new findings reveal what Inrap calls “one of the great villas of Roman Gaul,” with thick walls, marble, mosaics, and frescoes indicating aristocratic owners.

article news schedule Jul 3, 2025 visibility 1

remnants enaissance equestrian statue french dig 2662751

Archaeologists from INRAP (the National Institute of Preventive Archaeological Research) have unearthed a Renaissance-era limestone equestrian statue in Toul, northeastern France. The statue, broken into 27 pieces, was found buried under a roadway among the remains of a medieval gate demolished around 1700. The largest fragment measures about three-and-a-half feet, and the intact work would have stood over five feet high. The horse's trunk and head are preserved, along with the rider's hips and upper thighs, but the rider's head and limbs are missing, making identification uncertain. INRAP suggests the rider may have been Henry II, King of France, or more likely John III of Lorraine, Cardinal of Lorraine and Bishop of Toul, and that Italian artists may have been involved in its creation.

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