Vatican Museums

Among the smallest collective tombs there are the so-called “oven tombs”, whose reduced dimensions made it possible only to make out the interior of the grave through its single opening. They were square-shaped with a vaulted roof, recalling that of a small oven, and the cinerary urns were inserted into an inner shelf. An example is the tomb of Erotis, a girl of 14 and wife of Onesimus, as we are informed by the inscribed slab set into the wall at the front. The exterior of the tomb was red in colour; the white interior was decorated with paintings of plants on the walls, whereas the shelf with the urns was divided into red squares.
The walls of other tombs were structured so as to form small burial chambers with numerous niches for cinerary urns; these tombs are known as “columbaria”. They were decorated inside with delicate frescoes, mainly with plant-based motifs on a white background, and floors in black and white mosaic.