pic o' the day #1323- Grand Illusions!

One of my very favorite wall paintings anywhere in the Bay of Naples is in the House of the Great Portal in Herculaneum. Not a very large or fancy house in general, but the quality of this work sets it apart. The restrained color is elegant yet dramatic; it's too bad the lower parts of the walls are all gone!

Only bummer about the room is how most of the lower walls are gone. I'd love to see what the pedestals looked like!

The upper area consists of a continuous frieze band and a background of blue architectural elements.

Frieze of curtains, masks, and trophies seems to refer to the theater.

Above the curtained frieze is this monochrome gray/blue architectural fantasy, typical of the mature 4th style (ca 60-70 AD)

Detail of the curtain and architectural elements. Awesome brevity and economy of color.

Pic o' the Day #1322- Monday Monday

As some of you may have noticed, my output since going over to posting on the blog page (then sharing on Facebook) has slowed down a bit, though the number of photos has actually gone up. This is because it's easier to post a few on the blog, but then I have to write more about them, which slows me down. Therefore, without further ado, and for your pleasure, I give you 5 photos with little commentary, all taken from the House of the Beautiful Courtyard (Bel Cortile), which certainly lives up to its name.

Pic o' the Day #1321- Sunday is Bath Day!

Just kidding! I don't even have a bathtub! Then again, neither did most Roman homes (except the really fancy ones.) Most of them relied on public baths, which were plentiful, cheap, and very well decorated. These shots are from the Women's Bath in Herculaneum, one of several large bathhouses that are preserved there. Unlike Hollywood's lurid depiction of loose morals and prolific sex, Romans were actually fairly modest, and most baths were segregated by sexes.

One feature I have noticed in several of the baths there are the ridged ceilings, which are not only attractive to the eye, but they also serve to keep water from dripping on one's head (by funneling it down to troughs on the wall.) Very nice when your in the caldarium (hot room) where the drips can sting quite a bit, especially on your head! 

Mosaic floor in the women's bath house at Herculaneum. 

Room with a large communal tub and a vaulted plaster ceiling.

The ridges serve to channel condensing water down to the moldings on the walls- away from your head!

Changing area had shelves for setting your things on and benches to change on.

Pic o' the Day #1320- Back on the Good Foot

A visit to Herculaneum seemed to confirm that all was not lost in the modern world. There has been a big effort at Herculaneum to preserve and conserve what is there, much of it done by the Getty Institute. Here are a few shots of the fabulous Sacellum Augustus, a shrine to Caesar Augustus that maintains not only these beautiful frescoes, but also the charred remnants of the wooden beams that once supported the upper floors.

The central image of this panel represents Hercules with Juno and Minerva surrounded by a stage-like architectural setting

Detail of a spiraling column with a Corinthian capital

Trompe l'oeil vista as seen through a break in the wall depicts a delicate architecture typical of the later styles (3rd and 4th) of wall painting.

Charred remains of the wooden structure that supported the upper floor. The volcanic debris at Herculaneum had more water in it than at Pompeii, thus some of the organic matter (wood, food, etc,) was better preserved.

Detail of a trompe l'oeil overhang with coffered underside

Pic o' the day #1319- Don't believe the Hype!

After reading in many guidebooks that the modern town of Pompeii was to be avoided, we were pleasantly surprised by it's large park like piazza, active passeggiata, and beautiful 19th century Marian church. Say what you will about 19th century ornament; they had worked it out to a science, which in the right hands could be masterful.

View of the main dome in the Beata Vergine del Rosario, the main basilica in the town of Pompei

View of the apse, painted in the late 19th century

Detail of ornament

Spandrel ornament over an arched window

Pic o' the Day #1318- Sunday Style Supplement (a day late!)

As I said a few posts ago, I'm not going to go deep on the painting styles of Pompeii just yet, but here's a little teaser for when I do. The Fourth Style is sometimes known as the Baroque or Intricate period of Roman painting. As it was the last period of art before Vesuvius buried Pompeii (in 79 AD), it is found in many places in the Bay of Naples. Although the styles continued to evolve in other parts of the Roman Empire, by far the largest bulk of our knowledge comes from this area that was so well preserved under the tons of ashes left by the volcano. 

One of the easy ways to recognize work that was done in this late style is what are sometimes called "Embroidery" style borders: simple but precise one or two colored strips with repeating elements that are usually quite abstract. Here's a few examples from my trip last summer.

"Embroidery" border in the baths area of the Villa San Marco at Stabia

Another pattern from the same room

corner detail from the House of the Gilded Cupids in Pompeii

Pic o' the Day #1317- Happy Friday!

Detail of a decorative column used as a panel division in the Villa Arianna at Stabia. Very delicate and refined work.