The topic of the Diploma thesis is "Necropoleis on the Vatican Hill. The decoration analysis and its parallels in Roman art." The diploma thesis is divided into several parts that are particularly analysed. The first part is focused on the Vatican area layout in ancient world and both ancient and contemporary area layouts are compared. The second part is focused on the analysis of mausoleums along Via Cornelia and their decoration. The thesis tries to find some parallels with the mausoleums in the roman art which proclaim the use of these iconographical materials in other settings and historical backgrounds. The next part describes the necropolis along Via Triumphalis and the most important tombs within the specific sectors. The individual subchapters deal with selected motifs, which meanings intersect the pagan and Christian world. The following part analyzes selected sarcophagi and their decorative motifs. Consequently, both observed contexts are compared. The last part of the thesis provides the dating of several lamps from necropolis along Via Triumphalis. Keywords Vatican, necropolis, Via Cornelia, Via Triumphalis, antiquity, early Christian, roman art, decoration, sarcophagi

This thesis aims to study the commercial mechanism of Ravenna in the Late Antiquity from the point of view of the amount, type and provenance of the imported stone artefacts (fragments of architectural decoration, revetments slabs, opus sectile, sarcophagi), based on the study of archaeological material from the site of the basilica and the monastery of San Severo in Classe (Ravenna). Ravenna represented an important administrative and cultural center in the 5th and 6th century, connecting western and eastern artistic influences and focusing herself on trade and production. Determination of the stone artefacts from the San Severo locality was principally based on the archaeometric methods and on the combination of archaeologic and geologic approach as well. Specific archaeometric methods (macroscopic, geochemical and mineralogical-petrographic analyses) together with a quantitative evaluation were applied. Many scientific works, dedicated till this time to the art history of late antique Ravenna and dealing also the argument of ravennate "marbles" presumed the prevailing provenance from Proconnesos and usual commercial relations between Ravenna and Constantinople as well. Constantinople played a role of a mediator of oriental localities and Ravenna. The hypothesis concerning the provenance of the...