In May 2002 a new research project began, involving the study of a church portico from the Roman Imperial period, presently under the American Embassy on Via Veneto in Rome. Embassy authorities responsible for art collections and antiques invited Olof Brandt and the Swedish Institute to coordinate a new study of the church portico and especially of the many Late Antique graffiti that have never been published. These were studied in May and October 2002 by Anna Blennow, a Latin Ph.D. candidate from Gothenburg, who has previously studied the graffiti in San Lorenzo in Lucina. At the same time a new study of the church portico’s different phases took place. In this way it became possible to obtain a living picture of what seems to have belonged to an Imperial palace in the 4th century, where Christians and Jews scribbled religious symbols side by side in a rather competitive manner. The study of this limited space became a good point of departure in gaining a picture of the mentality as well as religious-historical impulses in Late Antiquity. Blennow’s participation is financed through the Gihl’s fund and the Institute.

Funds have been attained from the Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet) for a planned conference in 2003.

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