The aim of this paper is to illustrate the manifold research opportunity offered by the study of fragmentary wall paintings, which only in recent time have received interest from the scientific community. With its ambivalent status of image and archeological remain, the painted fragment brings new information upon specific questions that go beyond the mere ‘history of art’, as ancient craftsmanship, architectural reconstruction, reuse and recycling of waste in Antiquity. In this paper, the author critically discusses the recent book Remployer, recycler, restaurer: les autres vies des enduits peints recently edited by Mathilde Carrive (Carrive [ed.] 2017), in order to further explore this question.