Standing out in the row of buildings located between Via Laurentina and the internal tomb road is Tomb 18, of the chamber type, also called the Tomb “of the Priestess of Isis” for the fresco that adorned a niche in the façade. Inside, the walls are decorated with frescos with floral and animal motifs, while the vault is adorned with stuccowork depicting busts, dancers, scenes of offerings, sacred images, and landscapes with animals. Dated to the late 1st century BC, the tomb belongs to a unitary complex comprising Tombs 16 (monument in opus quadratum), 17, and 22 (funerary enclosures), done by the imperial freedman C(aius) Iulius Apella.
View of the interior of tomb 18
Reconstruction of the ceiling decoration of tomb 18
(G. Pascolini)
Axonometric view of monument 16
(G. Pascolini)
Funerary painting with lion and Nilotic scene from Tomb 17
Tomb 18, general view of the interior
Tomb 18, detail of the painted decoration of the walls’ base
Tomb 18, detail of the vault’s stucco decoration
Tomb 17, plaster fragment painted with the scene of a funerary banquet
(Depositi ostiensi)