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  • Roman fresco wall decorations of Bedroom E of the Villa Farnesia, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> <br /> Bedroom E, a private room with a bed (kline), was divided into antechamber and alcove. The room is probably a later reworking, as the doorway is off-center. The decoration of the walls, in contrast to cubicula B and D, is done in muted colors. Slender columns with a surreal superstructure frame aedicula with sacred landscapes. Three of these show travellers making a sacrifice to a herm of Athena. The images refer in various ways to the world of women. The little pictures along the walls of the antechamber show girls engaged in different activities. On the rear wall of the alcove, which has a picture with an amorous theme, the goddess Artemis is shown dressed as both huntress and moon goddess. Two Muses are on the opposite wall. The stucco decorations of the vaulted ceiling show idyllic landscapes with sacred elements and mythological scenes. In one, Phaethon asks his father Apollo to let him drive the chariot of the Sun. Other scenes show statues of Zeus, a statue probably representing Augustus as the new Mercury, disks of the sun, winged victories and grotesque figures, all done in very low relief with the elegance and delicacy of jewellery. The mosaic pavement of this room, known from a contemporary watercolor, had a pattern of squares and stars.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of Bedroom E of the Villa Farnesia, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> <br /> Bedroom E, a private room with a bed (kline), was divided into antechamber and alcove. The room is probably a later reworking, as the doorway is off-center. The decoration of the walls, in contrast to cubicula B and D, is done in muted colors. Slender columns with a surreal superstructure frame aedicula with sacred landscapes. Three of these show travellers making a sacrifice to a herm of Athena. The images refer in various ways to the world of women. The little pictures along the walls of the antechamber show girls engaged in different activities. On the rear wall of the alcove, which has a picture with an amorous theme, the goddess Artemis is shown dressed as both huntress and moon goddess. Two Muses are on the opposite wall. The stucco decorations of the vaulted ceiling show idyllic landscapes with sacred elements and mythological scenes. In one, Phaethon asks his father Apollo to let him drive the chariot of the Sun. Other scenes show statues of Zeus, a statue probably representing Augustus as the new Mercury, disks of the sun, winged victories and grotesque figures, all done in very low relief with the elegance and delicacy of jewellery. The mosaic pavement of this room, known from a contemporary watercolor, had a pattern of squares and stars.
  • Painted Bird from the Roman fresco of a garden from Villa Livia, Rome (Early first century AD), Rome, Livia was the wife of Roman emperor Augustus. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> Trees and shrubs had symbolic importance to the Romans as can be see by the plants used in the trompe-l’œil frescoes from the Villa Livia, Rome, which contains plants linked to the deities particularily venerated by Augustus and Livia.
  • Painted Fruit Tress in the Roman fresco of a garden from Villa Livia (Early first century AD), Rome, Livia was the wife of Roman emperor Augustus. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> Trees and shrubs had symbolic importance to the Romans as can be see by the plants used in the trompe-l’œil frescoes from the Villa Livia, Rome, which contains plants linked to the deities particularily venerated by Augustus and Livia.
  • Painted Fruit Tress in the Roman fresco of a garden from Villa Livia (Early first century AD), Rome, Livia was the wife of Roman emperor Augustus. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> Trees and shrubs had symbolic importance to the Romans as can be see by the plants used in the trompe-l’œil frescoes from the Villa Livia, Rome, which contains plants linked to the deities particularily venerated by Augustus and Livia.
  • Painted Roma fresco of a garden from Villa Livia (Early first century AD), Rome, Livia was the wife of Roman emperor Augustus. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> Trees and shrubs had symbolic importance to the Romans as can be see by the plants used in the trompe-l’œil frescoes from the Villa Livia, Rome, which contains plants linked to the deities particularily venerated by Augustus and Livia.
  • Painted Fruit Tress in the Roman fresco of a garden from Villa Livia (Early first century AD), Rome, Livia was the wife of Roman emperor Augustus. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> Trees and shrubs had symbolic importance to the Romans as can be see by the plants used in the trompe-l’œil frescoes from the Villa Livia, Rome, which contains plants linked to the deities particularily venerated by Augustus and Livia.
  • Painted Fruit Tress in the Roman fresco of a garden from Villa Livia (Early first century AD), Rome, Livia was the wife of Roman emperor Augustus. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> Trees and shrubs had symbolic importance to the Romans as can be see by the plants used in the trompe-l’œil frescoes from the Villa Livia, Rome, which contains plants linked to the deities particularily venerated by Augustus and Livia.
  • Painted Fruit Tress in the Roman fresco of a garden from Villa Livia (Early first century AD), Rome, Livia was the wife of Roman emperor Augustus. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> Trees and shrubs had symbolic importance to the Romans as can be see by the plants used in the trompe-l’œil frescoes from the Villa Livia, Rome, which contains plants linked to the deities particularily venerated by Augustus and Livia.
  • Painted Fruit Tress in the Roman fresco of a garden from Villa Livia (Early first century AD), Rome, Livia was the wife of Roman emperor Augustus. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> Trees and shrubs had symbolic importance to the Romans as can be see by the plants used in the trompe-l’œil frescoes from the Villa Livia, Rome, which contains plants linked to the deities particularily venerated by Augustus and Livia.
  • Painted Fruit Tress in the Roman fresco of a garden from Villa Livia (Early first century AD), Rome, Livia was the wife of Roman emperor Augustus. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> Trees and shrubs had symbolic importance to the Romans as can be see by the plants used in the trompe-l’œil frescoes from the Villa Livia, Rome, which contains plants linked to the deities particularily venerated by Augustus and Livia.
  • Painted Fruit Tress in the Roman fresco of a garden from Villa Livia (Early first century AD), Rome, Livia was the wife of Roman emperor Augustus. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> Trees and shrubs had symbolic importance to the Romans as can be see by the plants used in the trompe-l’œil frescoes from the Villa Livia, Rome, which contains plants linked to the deities particularily venerated by Augustus and Livia.
  • Painted Fruit Tress in the Roman fresco of a garden from Villa Livia (Early first century AD), Rome, Livia was the wife of Roman emperor Augustus. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> Trees and shrubs had symbolic importance to the Romans as can be see by the plants used in the trompe-l’œil frescoes from the Villa Livia, Rome, which contains plants linked to the deities particularily venerated by Augustus and Livia.
  • Painted Fruit Tress in the Roman fresco of a garden from Villa Livia (Early first century AD), Rome, Livia was the wife of Roman emperor Augustus. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> Trees and shrubs had symbolic importance to the Romans as can be see by the plants used in the trompe-l’œil frescoes from the Villa Livia, Rome, which contains plants linked to the deities particularily venerated by Augustus and Livia.
  • Painted Fruit Tress in the Roman fresco of a garden from Villa Livia (Early first century AD), Rome, Livia was the wife of Roman emperor Augustus. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> Trees and shrubs had symbolic importance to the Romans as can be see by the plants used in the trompe-l’œil frescoes from the Villa Livia, Rome, which contains plants linked to the deities particularily venerated by Augustus and Livia.
  • Painted Fruit Tress in the Roman fresco of a garden from Villa Livia (Early first century AD), Rome, Livia was the wife of Roman emperor Augustus. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> Trees and shrubs had symbolic importance to the Romans as can be see by the plants used in the trompe-l’œil frescoes from the Villa Livia, Rome, which contains plants linked to the deities particularily venerated by Augustus and Livia.
  • Painted Domestic Pine in the Roman fresco of a garden from Villa Livia (Early first century AD), Rome, Livia was the wife of Roman emperor Augustus. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> Trees and shrubs had symbolic importance to the Romans as can be see by the plants used in the trompe-l’œil frescoes from the Villa Livia, Rome, which contains plants linked to the deities particularily venerated by Augustus and Livia. <br /> <br /> Domestic pine: present in the mystery rites of Cybele, Attis and Dionysus. Laurel: sacred to Apollo, symbol of triumph, it recalls the famous prodigy associated with Livia Drusilla.
  • Painted Domestic Pine in the Roman fresco of a garden from Villa Livia (Early first century AD), Rome, Livia was the wife of Roman emperor Augustus. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> Trees and shrubs had symbolic importance to the Romans as can be see by the plants used in the trompe-l’œil frescoes from the Villa Livia, Rome, which contains plants linked to the deities particularily venerated by Augustus and Livia. <br /> <br /> Domestic pine: present in the mystery rites of Cybele, Attis and Dionysus. Laurel: sacred to Apollo, symbol of triumph, it recalls the famous prodigy associated with Livia Drusilla.
  • Painted Fruit Tress in the Roman fresco of a garden from Villa Livia (Early first century AD), Rome, Livia was the wife of Roman emperor Augustus. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> Trees and shrubs had symbolic importance to the Romans as can be see by the plants used in the trompe-l’œil frescoes from the Villa Livia, Rome, which contains plants linked to the deities particularily venerated by Augustus and Livia.
  • Painted Fruit Tress in the Roman fresco of a garden from Villa Livia (Early first century AD), Rome, Livia was the wife of Roman emperor Augustus. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> Trees and shrubs had symbolic importance to the Romans as can be see by the plants used in the trompe-l’œil frescoes from the Villa Livia, Rome, which contains plants linked to the deities particularily venerated by Augustus and Livia.
  • Painted Domestic Pine in the Roman fresco of a garden from Villa Livia (Early first century AD), Rome, Livia was the wife of Roman emperor Augustus. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> Trees and shrubs had symbolic importance to the Romans as can be see by the plants used in the trompe-l’œil frescoes from the Villa Livia, Rome, which contains plants linked to the deities particularily venerated by Augustus and Livia. <br /> <br /> Domestic pine: present in the mystery rites of Cybele, Attis and Dionysus. Laurel: sacred to Apollo, symbol of triumph, it recalls the famous prodigy associated with Livia Drusilla.
  • Painted Domestic Pine in the Roman fresco of a garden from Villa Livia (Early first century AD), Rome, Livia was the wife of Roman emperor Augustus. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> Trees and shrubs had symbolic importance to the Romans as can be see by the plants used in the trompe-l’œil frescoes from the Villa Livia, Rome, which contains plants linked to the deities particularily venerated by Augustus and Livia. <br /> <br /> Domestic pine: present in the mystery rites of Cybele, Attis and Dionysus. Laurel: sacred to Apollo, symbol of triumph, it recalls the famous prodigy associated with Livia Drusilla.
  • Painted Domestic Pine in the Roman fresco of a garden from Villa Livia (Early first century AD), Rome, Livia was the wife of Roman emperor Augustus. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> Trees and shrubs had symbolic importance to the Romans as can be see by the plants used in the trompe-l’œil frescoes from the Villa Livia, Rome, which contains plants linked to the deities particularily venerated by Augustus and Livia. <br /> <br /> Domestic pine: present in the mystery rites of Cybele, Attis and Dionysus. Laurel: sacred to Apollo, symbol of triumph, it recalls the famous prodigy associated with Livia Drusilla.
  • Painted Domestic Pine in the Roman fresco of a garden from Villa Livia (Early first century AD), Rome, Livia was the wife of Roman emperor Augustus. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> Trees and shrubs had symbolic importance to the Romans as can be see by the plants used in the trompe-l’œil frescoes from the Villa Livia, Rome, which contains plants linked to the deities particularily venerated by Augustus and Livia. <br /> <br /> Domestic pine: present in the mystery rites of Cybele, Attis and Dionysus. Laurel: sacred to Apollo, symbol of triumph, it recalls the famous prodigy associated with Livia Drusilla.
  • Roman Fresco with boats and marine life from the second quarter of the first century AD. (mosaico fauna marina da porto fluviale di san paolo), museo nazionale romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. inv. 121462 . <br /> The frescoes depict boats decorated as boats which went along the Tiber on festival days; their shape appears to be the caudicariae boats, used to transport merchandise. In the fresco fragment exhibited here (Ambiente E) the boat on the left depicts probably the group of 'side Serapide and Demetra on the stern, whereas the one on the right presents a crowned character on the bow and, on the stern, a feminine figure fluctuating in the air. Between the two boats, a young boy (a cupid or Palaimon-Portunus) rides a dolphin. All around are depicted several fish incredibly casting their shadows on the sea. The ichthyic fauna, lifeless as in still life decoration, is detailed as in a scientific catalogue. For the most part the represented species live next to the coast or were bred by the Romans in the piscinae salsac or in ponds. It is possible to recognize the rock mullet (mullus sunnuletus) and the mud one (mullus barbatu4 the scorpion fish (scorpoena) the dentex (dentex dentex), the aguglia (belone agus) the dolphin (delphinus delphis) and the golden mullet (lire curate).
  • Roman Fresco with boats and marine life from the second quarter of the first century AD. (mosaico fauna marina da porto fluviale di san paolo), museo nazionale romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. inv. 121462 . <br /> The frescoes depict boats decorated as boats which went along the Tiber on festival days; their shape appears to be the caudicariae boats, used to transport merchandise. In the fresco fragment exhibited here (Ambiente E) the boat on the left depicts probably the group of 'side Serapide and Demetra on the stern, whereas the one on the right presents a crowned character on the bow and, on the stern, a feminine figure fluctuating in the air. Between the two boats, a young boy (a cupid or Palaimon-Portunus) rides a dolphin. All around are depicted several fish incredibly casting their shadows on the sea. The ichthyic fauna, lifeless as in still life decoration, is detailed as in a scientific catalogue. For the most part the represented species live next to the coast or were bred by the Romans in the piscinae salsac or in ponds. It is possible to recognize the rock mullet (mullus sunnuletus) and the mud one (mullus barbatu4 the scorpion fish (scorpoena) the dentex (dentex dentex), the aguglia (belone agus) the dolphin (delphinus delphis) and the golden mullet (lire curate).
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of Corridor F-G of the Villa Farnesia, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> <br /> The corridor was a covered passageway that connected the two wings of the villa, partly straight and partly curved, following the shape of the central esedra. The elements that remain are from the inner walkway. The wall is divided by slender columns. Their capitals support female figures whose architectural function is in turn to support the columns of the superstructure. The female figures hold floral garlands that link them to one another. They may be meant to represent Caryatids, the women of Caria sold into slavery, who gave the name to female figures used as supports instead of columns. The most important part of the decoration is the small pictures in the upper zone: still lifes with masks from the theater alternate with imaginary landscapes, shrines, statues of divinities, little aedicula, and altars, the whole populated by figures of peasants, fishermen, and shepherds. The scene depicting a naval battle on the curved part may well refer to the battle of Actium that led to Rome's conquest of Egypt.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of Bedroom D of the Villa Farnesia, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> <br /> This bedroom has a decoration very similar to that of cubiculum B in its arrangement and the use of cinnabar red. At the rear of the alcove three women perform a sacrificial ceremony in a rustic shrine. The walls of the antechamber have scenes of lovers, and most of the other pictures have to do with female life. Here carefully rendered details (attendants, handmaidens, furniture, glass and silver vessels) provide invaluable information on domestic life. There are also Egyptianizing elements, lotus flowers, sphinxes, and exotic landscapes. On the second column of the right wall is the inscription, in Greek, Seleukos made this, presumably the name of a Greek who was one of the artisans. The vaulted ceiling, in pure white stucco, has reliefs of initiation rites into the mysteries, idyllic landscapes with sacred elements, and combats between fantastic animals. The decorative scheme of the two bedrooms owes its inspiration to the deities Aphrodite and Dionysos. A fragment of geometric mosaic in black and white can be attributed to bedroom D on the basis of a contemporary watercolor.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of Bedroom D of the Villa Farnesia, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> <br /> This bedroom has a decoration very similar to that of cubiculum B in its arrangement and the use of cinnabar red. At the rear of the alcove three women perform a sacrificial ceremony in a rustic shrine. The walls of the antechamber have scenes of lovers, and most of the other pictures have to do with female life. Here carefully rendered details (attendants, handmaidens, furniture, glass and silver vessels) provide invaluable information on domestic life. There are also Egyptianizing elements, lotus flowers, sphinxes, and exotic landscapes. On the second column of the right wall is the inscription, in Greek, Seleukos made this, presumably the name of a Greek who was one of the artisans. The vaulted ceiling, in pure white stucco, has reliefs of initiation rites into the mysteries, idyllic landscapes with sacred elements, and combats between fantastic animals. The decorative scheme of the two bedrooms owes its inspiration to the deities Aphrodite and Dionysos. A fragment of geometric mosaic in black and white can be attributed to bedroom D on the basis of a contemporary watercolor.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of Bedroom B of the Villa Farnesia, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> <br /> The bedroom (cubiculum). an intimate space with a bed (kline), divided into antechamber and bed alcove, has a rich decoration whose dominant color is the expensive cinnabar red. Architectural elements rendered in perspective complete with shadows are the setting for representations of pictures hung on the walls, which give the impression of an art gallery. Painted aedicula frame on the left wall the toilette of Aphrodite, on the right Dionysos with the nymphs of Mt. Nysa, to whom Zeus had entrusted the care of his baby son. Other small pictures, shown with illusionistic wooden protective shutters, present scenes of interiors and pairs of lovers. Fantastic ornamental figures and Egyptian gods, like Isis and Juppiter Ammon, cover the walls. The barrel vault in pure white stucco is decorated with reliefs showing scenes of initiation into the mysteries and idylic landscapes with sacred elements.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of Bedroom D of the Villa Farnesia, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> <br /> This bedroom has a decoration very similar to that of cubiculum B in its arrangement and the use of cinnabar red. At the rear of the alcove three women perform a sacrificial ceremony in a rustic shrine. The walls of the antechamber have scenes of lovers, and most of the other pictures have to do with female life. Here carefully rendered details (attendants, handmaidens, furniture, glass and silver vessels) provide invaluable information on domestic life. There are also Egyptianizing elements, lotus flowers, sphinxes, and exotic landscapes. On the second column of the right wall is the inscription, in Greek, Seleukos made this, presumably the name of a Greek who was one of the artisans. The vaulted ceiling, in pure white stucco, has reliefs of initiation rites into the mysteries, idyllic landscapes with sacred elements, and combats between fantastic animals. The decorative scheme of the two bedrooms owes its inspiration to the deities Aphrodite and Dionysos. A fragment of geometric mosaic in black and white can be attributed to bedroom D on the basis of a contemporary watercolor.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of Bedroom B of the Villa Farnesia, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> <br /> The bedroom (cubiculum). an intimate space with a bed (kline), divided into antechamber and bed alcove, has a rich decoration whose dominant color is the expensive cinnabar red. Architectural elements rendered in perspective complete with shadows are the setting for representations of pictures hung on the walls, which give the impression of an art gallery. Painted aedicula frame on the left wall the toilette of Aphrodite, on the right Dionysos with the nymphs of Mt. Nysa, to whom Zeus had entrusted the care of his baby son. Other small pictures, shown with illusionistic wooden protective shutters, present scenes of interiors and pairs of lovers. Fantastic ornamental figures and Egyptian gods, like Isis and Juppiter Ammon, cover the walls. The barrel vault in pure white stucco is decorated with reliefs showing scenes of initiation into the mysteries and idylic landscapes with sacred elements.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of Bedroom B of the Villa Farnesia, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> <br /> The bedroom (cubiculum). an intimate space with a bed (kline), divided into antechamber and bed alcove, has a rich decoration whose dominant color is the expensive cinnabar red. Architectural elements rendered in perspective complete with shadows are the setting for representations of pictures hung on the walls, which give the impression of an art gallery. Painted aedicula frame on the left wall the toilette of Aphrodite, on the right Dionysos with the nymphs of Mt. Nysa, to whom Zeus had entrusted the care of his baby son. Other small pictures, shown with illusionistic wooden protective shutters, present scenes of interiors and pairs of lovers. Fantastic ornamental figures and Egyptian gods, like Isis and Juppiter Ammon, cover the walls. The barrel vault in pure white stucco is decorated with reliefs showing scenes of initiation into the mysteries and idylic landscapes with sacred elements.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of Bedroom B of the Villa Farnesia, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> <br /> The bedroom (cubiculum). an intimate space with a bed (kline), divided into antechamber and bed alcove, has a rich decoration whose dominant color is the expensive cinnabar red. Architectural elements rendered in perspective complete with shadows are the setting for representations of pictures hung on the walls, which give the impression of an art gallery. Painted aedicula frame on the left wall the toilette of Aphrodite, on the right Dionysos with the nymphs of Mt. Nysa, to whom Zeus had entrusted the care of his baby son. Other small pictures, shown with illusionistic wooden protective shutters, present scenes of interiors and pairs of lovers. Fantastic ornamental figures and Egyptian gods, like Isis and Juppiter Ammon, cover the walls. The barrel vault in pure white stucco is decorated with reliefs showing scenes of initiation into the mysteries and idylic landscapes with sacred elements.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of Bedroom B of the Villa Farnesia, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> <br /> The bedroom (cubiculum). an intimate space with a bed (kline), divided into antechamber and bed alcove, has a rich decoration whose dominant color is the expensive cinnabar red. Architectural elements rendered in perspective complete with shadows are the setting for representations of pictures hung on the walls, which give the impression of an art gallery. Painted aedicula frame on the left wall the toilette of Aphrodite, on the right Dionysos with the nymphs of Mt. Nysa, to whom Zeus had entrusted the care of his baby son. Other small pictures, shown with illusionistic wooden protective shutters, present scenes of interiors and pairs of lovers. Fantastic ornamental figures and Egyptian gods, like Isis and Juppiter Ammon, cover the walls. The barrel vault in pure white stucco is decorated with reliefs showing scenes of initiation into the mysteries and idylic landscapes with sacred elements.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of the Triclinium C, Villa Farnesia, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> <br /> In the center of the dining room was a table, with three couches (klinai in Greek, hence the name "triclinium") on which the diners reclined as they ate. The southern exposure of the room and its main color suggest it was meant to be used in the winter. The architect Vitruvius, writing in the 1st century after Christ, recommends a dark background that will absorb heat to make the rooms warmer in cold weather. The black color (atramentum), made from a mixture of charcoal and glue, was resistant to smoke from the fire and soot from the lamps. On the dark background delicate landscapes are painted in light colors: cityscapes with buildings, arches, and gateways, and rural scenes showing huts, animals, and rustic shrines. The lavish decoration is broken up by slender columns festooned with ivy. The capitals are crowned by graceful female figures (caryatids). A frieze at eye level has scenes in which the same figures keep reappearing: popular tales depicted in a lively fashion. The scenes of the frieze start with the rear of the right wall. Also on this wall, near the doorway. can be seen a restoration made in antiquity to close off another entrance. We can identify a part of the polychrome mosaic pavement of this room. with meanders and stacked cubes rendered in perspective. The modem arrangement does not reproduce the or final. but is intended to suggest the effect of the pavement in the room
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of the Triclinium C, Villa Farnesia, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> <br /> In the center of the dining room was a table, with three couches (klinai in Greek, hence the name "triclinium") on which the diners reclined as they ate. The southern exposure of the room and its main color suggest it was meant to be used in the winter. The architect Vitruvius, writing in the 1st century after Christ, recommends a dark background that will absorb heat to make the rooms warmer in cold weather. The black color (atramentum), made from a mixture of charcoal and glue, was resistant to smoke from the fire and soot from the lamps. On the dark background delicate landscapes are painted in light colors: cityscapes with buildings, arches, and gateways, and rural scenes showing huts, animals, and rustic shrines. The lavish decoration is broken up by slender columns festooned with ivy. The capitals are crowned by graceful female figures (caryatids). A frieze at eye level has scenes in which the same figures keep reappearing: popular tales depicted in a lively fashion. The scenes of the frieze start with the rear of the right wall. Also on this wall, near the doorway. can be seen a restoration made in antiquity to close off another entrance. We can identify a part of the polychrome mosaic pavement of this room. with meanders and stacked cubes rendered in perspective. The modem arrangement does not reproduce the or final. but is intended to suggest the effect of the pavement in the room
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of the Triclinium C, Villa Farnesia, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> <br /> In the center of the dining room was a table, with three couches (klinai in Greek, hence the name "triclinium") on which the diners reclined as they ate. The southern exposure of the room and its main color suggest it was meant to be used in the winter. The architect Vitruvius, writing in the 1st century after Christ, recommends a dark background that will absorb heat to make the rooms warmer in cold weather. The black color (atramentum), made from a mixture of charcoal and glue, was resistant to smoke from the fire and soot from the lamps. On the dark background delicate landscapes are painted in light colors: cityscapes with buildings, arches, and gateways, and rural scenes showing huts, animals, and rustic shrines. The lavish decoration is broken up by slender columns festooned with ivy. The capitals are crowned by graceful female figures (caryatids). A frieze at eye level has scenes in which the same figures keep reappearing: popular tales depicted in a lively fashion. The scenes of the frieze start with the rear of the right wall. Also on this wall, near the doorway. can be seen a restoration made in antiquity to close off another entrance. We can identify a part of the polychrome mosaic pavement of this room. with meanders and stacked cubes rendered in perspective. The modem arrangement does not reproduce the or final. but is intended to suggest the effect of the pavement in the room
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of the Triclinium C, Villa Farnesia, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> <br /> In the center of the dining room was a table, with three couches (klinai in Greek, hence the name "triclinium") on which the diners reclined as they ate. The southern exposure of the room and its main color suggest it was meant to be used in the winter. The architect Vitruvius, writing in the 1st century after Christ, recommends a dark background that will absorb heat to make the rooms warmer in cold weather. The black color (atramentum), made from a mixture of charcoal and glue, was resistant to smoke from the fire and soot from the lamps. On the dark background delicate landscapes are painted in light colors: cityscapes with buildings, arches, and gateways, and rural scenes showing huts, animals, and rustic shrines. The lavish decoration is broken up by slender columns festooned with ivy. The capitals are crowned by graceful female figures (caryatids). A frieze at eye level has scenes in which the same figures keep reappearing: popular tales depicted in a lively fashion. The scenes of the frieze start with the rear of the right wall. Also on this wall, near the doorway. can be seen a restoration made in antiquity to close off another entrance. We can identify a part of the polychrome mosaic pavement of this room. with meanders and stacked cubes rendered in perspective. The modem arrangement does not reproduce the or final. but is intended to suggest the effect of the pavement in the room
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of the Triclinium C, Villa Farnesia, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> <br /> In the center of the dining room was a table, with three couches (klinai in Greek, hence the name "triclinium") on which the diners reclined as they ate. The southern exposure of the room and its main color suggest it was meant to be used in the winter. The architect Vitruvius, writing in the 1st century after Christ, recommends a dark background that will absorb heat to make the rooms warmer in cold weather. The black color (atramentum), made from a mixture of charcoal and glue, was resistant to smoke from the fire and soot from the lamps. On the dark background delicate landscapes are painted in light colors: cityscapes with buildings, arches, and gateways, and rural scenes showing huts, animals, and rustic shrines. The lavish decoration is broken up by slender columns festooned with ivy. The capitals are crowned by graceful female figures (caryatids). A frieze at eye level has scenes in which the same figures keep reappearing: popular tales depicted in a lively fashion. The scenes of the frieze start with the rear of the right wall. Also on this wall, near the doorway. can be seen a restoration made in antiquity to close off another entrance. We can identify a part of the polychrome mosaic pavement of this room. with meanders and stacked cubes rendered in perspective. The modem arrangement does not reproduce the or final. but is intended to suggest the effect of the pavement in the room
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of the Triclinium C, Villa Farnesia, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> <br /> In the center of the dining room was a table, with three couches (klinai in Greek, hence the name "triclinium") on which the diners reclined as they ate. The southern exposure of the room and its main color suggest it was meant to be used in the winter. The architect Vitruvius, writing in the 1st century after Christ, recommends a dark background that will absorb heat to make the rooms warmer in cold weather. The black color (atramentum), made from a mixture of charcoal and glue, was resistant to smoke from the fire and soot from the lamps. On the dark background delicate landscapes are painted in light colors: cityscapes with buildings, arches, and gateways, and rural scenes showing huts, animals, and rustic shrines. The lavish decoration is broken up by slender columns festooned with ivy. The capitals are crowned by graceful female figures (caryatids). A frieze at eye level has scenes in which the same figures keep reappearing: popular tales depicted in a lively fashion. The scenes of the frieze start with the rear of the right wall. Also on this wall, near the doorway. can be seen a restoration made in antiquity to close off another entrance. We can identify a part of the polychrome mosaic pavement of this room. with meanders and stacked cubes rendered in perspective. The modem arrangement does not reproduce the or final. but is intended to suggest the effect of the pavement in the room
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of the Triclinium C, Villa Farnesia, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> <br /> In the center of the dining room was a table, with three couches (klinai in Greek, hence the name "triclinium") on which the diners reclined as they ate. The southern exposure of the room and its main color suggest it was meant to be used in the winter. The architect Vitruvius, writing in the 1st century after Christ, recommends a dark background that will absorb heat to make the rooms warmer in cold weather. The black color (atramentum), made from a mixture of charcoal and glue, was resistant to smoke from the fire and soot from the lamps. On the dark background delicate landscapes are painted in light colors: cityscapes with buildings, arches, and gateways, and rural scenes showing huts, animals, and rustic shrines. The lavish decoration is broken up by slender columns festooned with ivy. The capitals are crowned by graceful female figures (caryatids). A frieze at eye level has scenes in which the same figures keep reappearing: popular tales depicted in a lively fashion. The scenes of the frieze start with the rear of the right wall. Also on this wall, near the doorway. can be seen a restoration made in antiquity to close off another entrance. We can identify a part of the polychrome mosaic pavement of this room. with meanders and stacked cubes rendered in perspective. The modem arrangement does not reproduce the or final. but is intended to suggest the effect of the pavement in the room
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of the Triclinium C, Villa Farnesia, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> <br /> In the center of the dining room was a table, with three couches (klinai in Greek, hence the name "triclinium") on which the diners reclined as they ate. The southern exposure of the room and its main color suggest it was meant to be used in the winter. The architect Vitruvius, writing in the 1st century after Christ, recommends a dark background that will absorb heat to make the rooms warmer in cold weather. The black color (atramentum), made from a mixture of charcoal and glue, was resistant to smoke from the fire and soot from the lamps. On the dark background delicate landscapes are painted in light colors: cityscapes with buildings, arches, and gateways, and rural scenes showing huts, animals, and rustic shrines. The lavish decoration is broken up by slender columns festooned with ivy. The capitals are crowned by graceful female figures (caryatids). A frieze at eye level has scenes in which the same figures keep reappearing: popular tales depicted in a lively fashion. The scenes of the frieze start with the rear of the right wall. Also on this wall, near the doorway. can be seen a restoration made in antiquity to close off another entrance. We can identify a part of the polychrome mosaic pavement of this room. with meanders and stacked cubes rendered in perspective. The modem arrangement does not reproduce the or final. but is intended to suggest the effect of the pavement in the room
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of the Triclinium C, Villa Farnesia, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> <br /> In the center of the dining room was a table, with three couches (klinai in Greek, hence the name "triclinium") on which the diners reclined as they ate. The southern exposure of the room and its main color suggest it was meant to be used in the winter. The architect Vitruvius, writing in the 1st century after Christ, recommends a dark background that will absorb heat to make the rooms warmer in cold weather. The black color (atramentum), made from a mixture of charcoal and glue, was resistant to smoke from the fire and soot from the lamps. On the dark background delicate landscapes are painted in light colors: cityscapes with buildings, arches, and gateways, and rural scenes showing huts, animals, and rustic shrines. The lavish decoration is broken up by slender columns festooned with ivy. The capitals are crowned by graceful female figures (caryatids). A frieze at eye level has scenes in which the same figures keep reappearing: popular tales depicted in a lively fashion. The scenes of the frieze start with the rear of the right wall. Also on this wall, near the doorway. can be seen a restoration made in antiquity to close off another entrance. We can identify a part of the polychrome mosaic pavement of this room. with meanders and stacked cubes rendered in perspective. The modem arrangement does not reproduce the or final. but is intended to suggest the effect of the pavement in the room
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of the Triclinium C, Villa Farnesia, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> <br /> In the center of the dining room was a table, with three couches (klinai in Greek, hence the name "triclinium") on which the diners reclined as they ate. The southern exposure of the room and its main color suggest it was meant to be used in the winter. The architect Vitruvius, writing in the 1st century after Christ, recommends a dark background that will absorb heat to make the rooms warmer in cold weather. The black color (atramentum), made from a mixture of charcoal and glue, was resistant to smoke from the fire and soot from the lamps. On the dark background delicate landscapes are painted in light colors: cityscapes with buildings, arches, and gateways, and rural scenes showing huts, animals, and rustic shrines. The lavish decoration is broken up by slender columns festooned with ivy. The capitals are crowned by graceful female figures (caryatids). A frieze at eye level has scenes in which the same figures keep reappearing: popular tales depicted in a lively fashion. The scenes of the frieze start with the rear of the right wall. Also on this wall, near the doorway. can be seen a restoration made in antiquity to close off another entrance. We can identify a part of the polychrome mosaic pavement of this room. with meanders and stacked cubes rendered in perspective. The modem arrangement does not reproduce the or final. but is intended to suggest the effect of the pavement in the room
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of the Triclinium C, Villa Farnesia, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> <br /> In the center of the dining room was a table, with three couches (klinai in Greek, hence the name "triclinium") on which the diners reclined as they ate. The southern exposure of the room and its main color suggest it was meant to be used in the winter. The architect Vitruvius, writing in the 1st century after Christ, recommends a dark background that will absorb heat to make the rooms warmer in cold weather. The black color (atramentum), made from a mixture of charcoal and glue, was resistant to smoke from the fire and soot from the lamps. On the dark background delicate landscapes are painted in light colors: cityscapes with buildings, arches, and gateways, and rural scenes showing huts, animals, and rustic shrines. The lavish decoration is broken up by slender columns festooned with ivy. The capitals are crowned by graceful female figures (caryatids). A frieze at eye level has scenes in which the same figures keep reappearing: popular tales depicted in a lively fashion. The scenes of the frieze start with the rear of the right wall. Also on this wall, near the doorway. can be seen a restoration made in antiquity to close off another entrance. We can identify a part of the polychrome mosaic pavement of this room. with meanders and stacked cubes rendered in perspective. The modem arrangement does not reproduce the or final. but is intended to suggest the effect of the pavement in the room
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of the Bedroom B, the Villa Farnesia, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> <br /> The bedroom (cubiculum). an intimate space with a bed (kline), divided into antechamber and bed alcove, has a rich decoration whose dominant color is the expensive cinnabar red. Architectural elements rendered in perspective complete with shadows are the setting for representations of pictures hung on the walls, which give the impression of an art gallery. Painted aedicula frame on the left wall the toilette of Aphrodite, on the right Dionysos with the nymphs of Mt. Nysa, to whom Zeus had entrusted the care of his baby son. Other small pictures, shown with illusionistic wooden protective shutters, present scenes of interiors and pairs of lovers. Fantastic ornamental figures and Egyptian gods, like Isis and Juppiter Ammon, cover the walls. The barrel vault in pure white stucco is decorated with reliefs showing scenes of initiation into the mysteries and idylic landscapes with sacred elements.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of the Bedroom B, the Villa Farnesia, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> <br /> The bedroom (cubiculum). an intimate space with a bed (kline), divided into antechamber and bed alcove, has a rich decoration whose dominant color is the expensive cinnabar red. Architectural elements rendered in perspective complete with shadows are the setting for representations of pictures hung on the walls, which give the impression of an art gallery. Painted aedicula frame on the left wall the toilette of Aphrodite, on the right Dionysos with the nymphs of Mt. Nysa, to whom Zeus had entrusted the care of his baby son. Other small pictures, shown with illusionistic wooden protective shutters, present scenes of interiors and pairs of lovers. Fantastic ornamental figures and Egyptian gods, like Isis and Juppiter Ammon, cover the walls. The barrel vault in pure white stucco is decorated with reliefs showing scenes of initiation into the mysteries and idylic landscapes with sacred elements.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of the Bedroom B, the Villa Farnesia, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> <br /> The bedroom (cubiculum). an intimate space with a bed (kline), divided into antechamber and bed alcove, has a rich decoration whose dominant color is the expensive cinnabar red. Architectural elements rendered in perspective complete with shadows are the setting for representations of pictures hung on the walls, which give the impression of an art gallery. Painted aedicula frame on the left wall the toilette of Aphrodite, on the right Dionysos with the nymphs of Mt. Nysa, to whom Zeus had entrusted the care of his baby son. Other small pictures, shown with illusionistic wooden protective shutters, present scenes of interiors and pairs of lovers. Fantastic ornamental figures and Egyptian gods, like Isis and Juppiter Ammon, cover the walls. The barrel vault in pure white stucco is decorated with reliefs showing scenes of initiation into the mysteries and idylic landscapes with sacred elements.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations from Villas of Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations from Villas of Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.
  • Roman fresco wall decoration frangmet from a Rome Villa, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of cryptoporticus A of the Villa Farnesia, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> <br /> The paintings in the long corridor, which got light only from small high-placed windows, are on a white background. The illusionistic decoration shows a row of columns on a high socle decorated with "grottesche". In the background, pictures alternating theatrical scenes, scenes of worship, and landscapes seem to hang on a wall divided by pilasters. Some of the scenes are probably later restorations of the originals. <br /> In the upper part a loggia holding sphinxes and statues of divinities rests on caryatids (architectural supports in the form of female figures). <br /> Because there was limited time for excavation, only the more important decorative elements were removed from the walls. A drawing on the modern base on which the fragments are inserted gives an idea of the effect of the whole, which is known to us from a watercolor done at the time.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of cryptoporticus A of the Villa Farnesia, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> <br /> The paintings in the long corridor, which got light only from small high-placed windows, are on a white background. The illusionistic decoration shows a row of columns on a high socle decorated with "grottesche". In the background, pictures alternating theatrical scenes, scenes of worship, and landscapes seem to hang on a wall divided by pilasters. Some of the scenes are probably later restorations of the originals. <br /> In the upper part a loggia holding sphinxes and statues of divinities rests on caryatids (architectural supports in the form of female figures). <br /> Because there was limited time for excavation, only the more important decorative elements were removed from the walls. A drawing on the modern base on which the fragments are inserted gives an idea of the effect of the whole, which is known to us from a watercolor done at the time.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations from Villas of Rome depicting Pegasus. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations from Villas of Rome depicting Pegasus. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.
  • Roman Fresco with boats and marine life from the second quarter of the first century AD. (mosaico fauna marina da porto fluviale di san paolo), museo nazionale romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. inv. 121462 . <br /> The frescoes depict boats decorated as boats which went along the Tiber on festival days; their shape appears to be the caudicariae boats, used to transport merchandise. In the fresco fragment exhibited here (Ambiente E) the boat on the left depicts probably the group of 'side Serapide and Demetra on the stern, whereas the one on the right presents a crowned character on the bow and, on the stern, a feminine figure fluctuating in the air. Between the two boats, a young boy (a cupid or Palaimon-Portunus) rides a dolphin. All around are depicted several fish incredibly casting their shadows on the sea. The ichthyic fauna, lifeless as in still life decoration, is detailed as in a scientific catalogue. For the most part the represented species live next to the coast or were bred by the Romans in the piscinae salsac or in ponds. It is possible to recognize the rock mullet (mullus sunnuletus) and the mud one (mullus barbatu4 the scorpion fish (scorpoena) the dentex (dentex dentex), the aguglia (belone agus) the dolphin (delphinus delphis) and the golden mullet (lire curate).
  • Roman Fresco with a fight scene between octopus, lobster and eel, 125-150 AD. (mosaico fauna marina da porto fluviale di san paolo), museo nazionale romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. inv. 463Z4. Against an art background.<br /> <br /> Excavated from the Porto di San Paolo near the Via Portuense, these frescoes decorated the thermal area of a suburban Roman Villa. The reconstructed fresco fragments, depict a group of three fighting animals: an octopus (octopus vulgaris) clutches a moray eel (muraena helena) and a lobster (palinurus vulgaris) in its tentacles; around them mud mullets (mullus barbatus) and rock mullets (mullus surmuletus) try to escape. Incriptions on the frescoes suggesy that the villa owner was from Alexandria where this style of nautical mosaic and fresco decorations is found.
  • Roman Fresco with a fight scene between octopus, lobster and eel, 125-150 AD. (mosaico fauna marina da porto fluviale di san paolo), museo nazionale romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. inv. 463Z4. Against an art background.<br /> <br /> Excavated from the Porto di San Paolo near the Via Portuense, these frescoes decorated the thermal area of a suburban Roman Villa. The reconstructed fresco fragments, depict a group of three fighting animals: an octopus (octopus vulgaris) clutches a moray eel (muraena helena) and a lobster (palinurus vulgaris) in its tentacles; around them mud mullets (mullus barbatus) and rock mullets (mullus surmuletus) try to escape. Incriptions on the frescoes suggesy that the villa owner was from Alexandria where this style of nautical mosaic and fresco decorations is found.
  • Roman Fresco with a boat decorated for a festival and marine life from the second quarter of the first century AD. (mosaico fauna marina da porto fluviale di san paolo), museo nazionale romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. inv. 121462 . Against an art background.<br /> The frescoes depict boats decorated as boats which went along the Tiber on festival days; their shape appears to be the caudicariae boats, used to transport merchandise. In the fresco fragment exhibited here (Ambiente E) the boat on the left depicts probably the group of 'side Serapide and Demetra on the stern, whereas the one on the right presents a crowned character on the bow and, on the stern, a feminine figure fluctuating in the air. Between the two boats, a young boy (a cupid or Palaimon-Portunus) rides a dolphin. All around are depicted several fish incredibly casting their shadows on the sea. The ichthyic fauna, lifeless as in still life decoration, is detailed as in a scientific catalogue. For the most part the represented species live next to the coast or were bred by the Romans in the piscinae salsac or in ponds. It is possible to recognize the rock mullet (mullus sunnuletus) and the mud one (mullus barbatu4 the scorpion fish (scorpoena) the dentex (dentex dentex), the aguglia (belone agus) the dolphin (delphinus delphis) and the golden mullet (lire curate).
  • Roman Fresco with a boat decorated for a festival and marine life from the second quarter of the first century AD. (mosaico fauna marina da porto fluviale di san paolo), museo nazionale romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. inv. 121462 . <br /> The frescoes depict boats decorated as boats which went along the Tiber on festival days; their shape appears to be the caudicariae boats, used to transport merchandise. In the fresco fragment exhibited here (Ambiente E) the boat on the left depicts probably the group of 'side Serapide and Demetra on the stern, whereas the one on the right presents a crowned character on the bow and, on the stern, a feminine figure fluctuating in the air. Between the two boats, a young boy (a cupid or Palaimon-Portunus) rides a dolphin. All around are depicted several fish incredibly casting their shadows on the sea. The ichthyic fauna, lifeless as in still life decoration, is detailed as in a scientific catalogue. For the most part the represented species live next to the coast or were bred by the Romans in the piscinae salsac or in ponds. It is possible to recognize the rock mullet (mullus sunnuletus) and the mud one (mullus barbatu4 the scorpion fish (scorpoena) the dentex (dentex dentex), the aguglia (belone agus) the dolphin (delphinus delphis) and the golden mullet (lire curate).
  • Roman Fresco with a boat decorated for a festival and marine life from the second quarter of the first century AD. (mosaico fauna marina da porto fluviale di san paolo), museo nazionale romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. inv. 121462 .
  • Roman Fresco with a boat decorated for a festival and marine life from the second quarter of the first century AD. (mosaico fauna marina da porto fluviale di san paolo), museo nazionale romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. inv. 121462 . <br /> The frescoes depict boats decorated as boats which went along the Tiber on festival days; their shape appears to be the caudicariae boats, used to transport merchandise. In the fresco fragment exhibited here (Ambiente E) the boat on the left depicts probably the group of 'side Serapide and Demetra on the stern, whereas the one on the right presents a crowned character on the bow and, on the stern, a feminine figure fluctuating in the air. Between the two boats, a young boy (a cupid or Palaimon-Portunus) rides a dolphin. All around are depicted several fish incredibly casting their shadows on the sea. The ichthyic fauna, lifeless as in still life decoration, is detailed as in a scientific catalogue. For the most part the represented species live next to the coast or were bred by the Romans in the piscinae salsac or in ponds. It is possible to recognize the rock mullet (mullus sunnuletus) and the mud one (mullus barbatu4 the scorpion fish (scorpoena) the dentex (dentex dentex), the aguglia (belone agus) the dolphin (delphinus delphis) and the golden mullet (lire curate).
  • Roman Fresco detail of fishes marine life from the second quarter of the first century AD. (mosaico fauna marina da porto fluviale di san paolo), museo nazionale romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. inv. 121462 .
  • Roman Fresco detail of fishes marine life from the second quarter of the first century AD. (mosaico fauna marina da porto fluviale di san paolo), museo nazionale romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. inv. 121462 .
  • Roman Fresco detail of fishes marine life from the second quarter of the first century AD. (mosaico fauna marina da porto fluviale di san paolo), museo nazionale romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. inv. 121462 .
  • Roman Fresco detail of fishes marine life from the second quarter of the first century AD. (mosaico fauna marina da porto fluviale di san paolo), museo nazionale romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. inv. 121462 .
  • Roman Fresco with a boat decorated for a festival and marine life from the second quarter of the first century AD. (mosaico fauna marina da porto fluviale di san paolo), museo nazionale romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. inv. 121462 . <br /> The frescoes depict boats decorated as boats which went along the Tiber on festival days; their shape appears to be the caudicariae boats, used to transport merchandise. In the fresco fragment exhibited here (Ambiente E) the boat on the left depicts probably the group of 'side Serapide and Demetra on the stern, whereas the one on the right presents a crowned character on the bow and, on the stern, a feminine figure fluctuating in the air. Between the two boats, a young boy (a cupid or Palaimon-Portunus) rides a dolphin. All around are depicted several fish incredibly casting their shadows on the sea. The ichthyic fauna, lifeless as in still life decoration, is detailed as in a scientific catalogue. For the most part the represented species live next to the coast or were bred by the Romans in the piscinae salsac or in ponds. It is possible to recognize the rock mullet (mullus sunnuletus) and the mud one (mullus barbatu4 the scorpion fish (scorpoena) the dentex (dentex dentex), the aguglia (belone agus) the dolphin (delphinus delphis) and the golden mullet (lire curate).
  • Roman Fresco with boats and marine life from the second quarter of the first century AD. (mosaico fauna marina da porto fluviale di san paolo), museo nazionale romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. inv. 121462 . Against an art background.<br /> The frescoes depict boats decorated as boats which went along the Tiber on festival days; their shape appears to be the caudicariae boats, used to transport merchandise. In the fresco fragment exhibited here (Ambiente E) the boat on the left depicts probably the group of 'side Serapide and Demetra on the stern, whereas the one on the right presents a crowned character on the bow and, on the stern, a feminine figure fluctuating in the air. Between the two boats, a young boy (a cupid or Palaimon-Portunus) rides a dolphin. All around are depicted several fish incredibly casting their shadows on the sea. The ichthyic fauna, lifeless as in still life decoration, is detailed as in a scientific catalogue. For the most part the represented species live next to the coast or were bred by the Romans in the piscinae salsac or in ponds. It is possible to recognize the rock mullet (mullus sunnuletus) and the mud one (mullus barbatu4 the scorpion fish (scorpoena) the dentex (dentex dentex), the aguglia (belone agus) the dolphin (delphinus delphis) and the golden mullet (lire curate).
  • Roman Fresco with boats and marine life from the second quarter of the first century AD. (mosaico fauna marina da porto fluviale di san paolo), museo nazionale romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. inv. 121462 . Against an art background.<br /> The frescoes depict boats decorated as boats which went along the Tiber on festival days; their shape appears to be the caudicariae boats, used to transport merchandise. In the fresco fragment exhibited here (Ambiente E) the boat on the left depicts probably the group of 'side Serapide and Demetra on the stern, whereas the one on the right presents a crowned character on the bow and, on the stern, a feminine figure fluctuating in the air. Between the two boats, a young boy (a cupid or Palaimon-Portunus) rides a dolphin. All around are depicted several fish incredibly casting their shadows on the sea. The ichthyic fauna, lifeless as in still life decoration, is detailed as in a scientific catalogue. For the most part the represented species live next to the coast or were bred by the Romans in the piscinae salsac or in ponds. It is possible to recognize the rock mullet (mullus sunnuletus) and the mud one (mullus barbatu4 the scorpion fish (scorpoena) the dentex (dentex dentex), the aguglia (belone agus) the dolphin (delphinus delphis) and the golden mullet (lire curate).
  • Roman fresco wall decorations from Villas of Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against an art background.
  • Roman Frescoes of the The Large Columbarium in Villa Doria Panphilj, Rome. A columbarium is usually a type of tomb with walls lined by niches that hold urns containing the ashes of the dead. Large columbaria were built in Rome between the end of the Republican Era and the Flavio Principality (second half of the first century AD). Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against an art background.
  • Roman Frescoes of the The Large Columbarium in Villa Doria Panphilj, Rome. A columbarium is usually a type of tomb with walls lined by niches that hold urns containing the ashes of the dead. Large columbaria were built in Rome between the end of the Republican Era and the Flavio Principality (second half of the first century AD). Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against an art background.
  • Roman Frescoes of the The Large Columbarium in Villa Doria Panphilj, Rome. A columbarium is usually a type of tomb with walls lined by niches that hold urns containing the ashes of the dead. Large columbaria were built in Rome between the end of the Republican Era and the Flavio Principality (second half of the first century AD). Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against an art background.
  • Roman Fresco of a hippo bird from The Large Columbarium in Villa Doria Panphilj, Rome. A columbarium is usually a type of tomb with walls lined by niches that hold urns containing the ashes of the dead. Large columbaria were built in Rome between the end of the Republican Era and the Flavio Principality (second half of the first century AD). Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.
  • Roman Frescoes of the The Large Columbarium in Villa Doria Panphilj, Rome. A columbarium is usually a type of tomb with walls lined by niches that hold urns containing the ashes of the dead. Large columbaria were built in Rome between the end of the Republican Era and the Flavio Principality (second half of the first century AD). Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.
  • Roman Fresco of an exotic bird from The Large Columbarium in Villa Doria Panphilj, Rome. A columbarium is usually a type of tomb with walls lined by niches that hold urns containing the ashes of the dead. Large columbaria were built in Rome between the end of the Republican Era and the Flavio Principality (second half of the first century AD). Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.
  • Roman Fresco of a fruit from The Large Columbarium in Villa Doria Panphilj, Rome. A columbarium is usually a type of tomb with walls lined by niches that hold urns containing the ashes of the dead. Large columbaria were built in Rome between the end of the Republican Era and the Flavio Principality (second half of the first century AD). Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.
  • Roman Frescoes of the The Large Columbarium in Villa Doria Panphilj, Rome. A columbarium is usually a type of tomb with walls lined by niches that hold urns containing the ashes of the dead. Large columbaria were built in Rome between the end of the Republican Era and the Flavio Principality (second half of the first century AD). Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.
  • Roman Fresco the The Large Columbarium in Villa Doria Panphilj, Rome. A columbarium is usually a type of tomb with walls lined by niches that hold urns containing the ashes of the dead. Large columbaria were built in Rome between the end of the Republican Era and the Flavio Principality (second half of the first century AD). Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.
  • Roman Fresco of fruit bird from The Large Columbarium in Villa Doria Panphilj, Rome. A columbarium is usually a type of tomb with walls lined by niches that hold urns containing the ashes of the dead. Large columbaria were built in Rome between the end of the Republican Era and the Flavio Principality (second half of the first century AD). Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.
  • Roman Fresco of fruit bird from The Large Columbarium in Villa Doria Panphilj, Rome. A columbarium is usually a type of tomb with walls lined by niches that hold urns containing the ashes of the dead. Large columbaria were built in Rome between the end of the Republican Era and the Flavio Principality (second half of the first century AD). Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.
  • Roman Fresco of a bird from The Large Columbarium in Villa Doria Panphilj, Rome. A columbarium is usually a type of tomb with walls lined by niches that hold urns containing the ashes of the dead. Large columbaria were built in Rome between the end of the Republican Era and the Flavio Principality (second half of the first century AD). Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.
  • Roman Frescoes of the The Large Columbarium in Villa Doria Panphilj, Rome. A columbarium is usually a type of tomb with walls lined by niches that hold urns containing the ashes of the dead. Large columbaria were built in Rome between the end of the Republican Era and the Flavio Principality (second half of the first century AD). Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against a grey background.
  • Roman fresco of a man from the The Large Columbarium in Villa Doria Panphilj, Rome. A columbarium is usually a type of tomb with walls lined by niches that hold urns containing the ashes of the dead. Large columbaria were built in Rome between the end of the Republican Era and the Flavio Principality (second half of the first century AD). Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of the Triclinium C, Villa Farnesia, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of the Triclinium C, Villa Farnesia, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of the Triclinium C, Villa Farnesia, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of the Triclinium C, Villa Farnesia, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of the Triclinium C, Villa Farnesia, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.
  • Roman Fresco of a chickens from The Large Columbarium in Villa Doria Panphilj, Rome. A columbarium is usually a type of tomb with walls lined by niches that hold urns containing the ashes of the dead. Large columbaria were built in Rome between the end of the Republican Era and the Flavio Principality (second half of the first century AD). Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.
  • Roman Frescoes of the The Large Columbarium in Villa Doria Panphilj, Rome. A columbarium is usually a type of tomb with walls lined by niches that hold urns containing the ashes of the dead. Large columbaria were built in Rome between the end of the Republican Era and the Flavio Principality (second half of the first century AD). Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.
  • Roman Fresco of a deer from The Large Columbarium in Villa Doria Panphilj, Rome. A columbarium is usually a type of tomb with walls lined by niches that hold urns containing the ashes of the dead. Large columbaria were built in Rome between the end of the Republican Era and the Flavio Principality (second half of the first century AD). Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.
  • Roman Fresco of an exotic bird from The Large Columbarium in Villa Doria Panphilj, Rome. A columbarium is usually a type of tomb with walls lined by niches that hold urns containing the ashes of the dead. Large columbaria were built in Rome between the end of the Republican Era and the Flavio Principality (second half of the first century AD). Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.
  • Roman Fresco of an exotic bird from The Large Columbarium in Villa Doria Panphilj, Rome. A columbarium is usually a type of tomb with walls lined by niches that hold urns containing the ashes of the dead. Large columbaria were built in Rome between the end of the Republican Era and the Flavio Principality (second half of the first century AD). Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.
  • Roman Frescoes of the The Large Columbarium in Villa Doria Panphilj, Rome. A columbarium is usually a type of tomb with walls lined by niches that hold urns containing the ashes of the dead. Large columbaria were built in Rome between the end of the Republican Era and the Flavio Principality (second half of the first century AD). Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.
  • Roman Fresco of an exotic bird from The Large Columbarium in Villa Doria Panphilj, Rome. A columbarium is usually a type of tomb with walls lined by niches that hold urns containing the ashes of the dead. Large columbaria were built in Rome between the end of the Republican Era and the Flavio Principality (second half of the first century AD). Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.
  • Roman Frescoes of the The Large Columbarium in Villa Doria Panphilj, Rome. A columbarium is usually a type of tomb with walls lined by niches that hold urns containing the ashes of the dead. Large columbaria were built in Rome between the end of the Republican Era and the Flavio Principality (second half of the first century AD). Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.
  • Roman Frescoes of the The Large Columbarium in Villa Doria Panphilj, Rome. A columbarium is usually a type of tomb with walls lined by niches that hold urns containing the ashes of the dead. Large columbaria were built in Rome between the end of the Republican Era and the Flavio Principality (second half of the first century AD). Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.
  • Roman Frescoes of the The Large Columbarium in Villa Doria Panphilj, Rome. A columbarium is usually a type of tomb with walls lined by niches that hold urns containing the ashes of the dead. Large columbaria were built in Rome between the end of the Republican Era and the Flavio Principality (second half of the first century AD). Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.
  • Roman Frescoes of the The Large Columbarium in Villa Doria Panphilj, Rome. A columbarium is usually a type of tomb with walls lined by niches that hold urns containing the ashes of the dead. Large columbaria were built in Rome between the end of the Republican Era and the Flavio Principality (second half of the first century AD). Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.
  • Roman Fresco of a chicken from The Large Columbarium in Villa Doria Panphilj, Rome. A columbarium is usually a type of tomb with walls lined by niches that hold urns containing the ashes of the dead. Large columbaria were built in Rome between the end of the Republican Era and the Flavio Principality (second half of the first century AD). Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.
  • Roman Fresco of a symposium exotic bird from The Large Columbarium in Villa Doria Panphilj, Rome. A columbarium is usually a type of tomb with walls lined by niches that hold urns containing the ashes of the dead. Large columbaria were built in Rome between the end of the Republican Era and the Flavio Principality (second half of the first century AD). Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of Corridor F-G of the Villa Farnesia, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> <br /> The corridor was a covered passageway that connected the two wings of the villa, partly straight and partly curved, following the shape of the central esedra. The elements that remain are from the inner walkway. The wall is divided by slender columns. Their capitals support female figures whose architectural function is in turn to support the columns of the superstructure. The female figures hold floral garlands that link them to one another. They may be meant to represent Caryatids, the women of Caria sold into slavery, who gave the name to female figures used as supports instead of columns. The most important part of the decoration is the small pictures in the upper zone: still lifes with masks from the theater alternate with imaginary landscapes, shrines, statues of divinities, little aedicula, and altars, the whole populated by figures of peasants, fishermen, and shepherds. The scene depicting a naval battle on the curved part may well refer to the battle of Actium that led to Rome's conquest of Egypt.
  • Roman Fresco of a cat killing a bird from The Large Columbarium in Villa Doria Panphilj, Rome. A columbarium is usually a type of tomb with walls lined by niches that hold urns containing the ashes of the dead. Large columbaria were built in Rome between the end of the Republican Era and the Flavio Principality (second half of the first century AD). Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.
  • Roman Frescoes of the The Large Columbarium in Villa Doria Panphilj, Rome. A columbarium is usually a type of tomb with walls lined by niches that hold urns containing the ashes of the dead. Large columbaria were built in Rome between the end of the Republican Era and the Flavio Principality (second half of the first century AD). Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.
  • Roman Frescoes of the The Large Columbarium in Villa Doria Panphilj, Rome. A columbarium is usually a type of tomb with walls lined by niches that hold urns containing the ashes of the dead. Large columbaria were built in Rome between the end of the Republican Era and the Flavio Principality (second half of the first century AD). Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations from Villas of Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against an art background.
  • Roman fresco wall decoration frangmet from a Villa alongside the Tiber, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against an art background.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations from Villas of Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against an art background.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of Corridor F-G of the Villa Farnesia, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against an art background.<br /> <br /> The corridor was a covered passageway that connected the two wings of the villa, partly straight and partly curved, following the shape of the central esedra. The elements that remain are from the inner walkway. The wall is divided by slender columns. Their capitals support female figures whose architectural function is in turn to support the columns of the superstructure. The female figures hold floral garlands that link them to one another. They may be meant to represent Caryatids, the women of Caria sold into slavery, who gave the name to female figures used as supports instead of columns. The most important part of the decoration is the small pictures in the upper zone: still lifes with masks from the theater alternate with imaginary landscapes, shrines, statues of divinities, little aedicula, and altars, the whole populated by figures of peasants, fishermen, and shepherds. The scene depicting a naval battle on the curved part may well refer to the battle of Actium that led to Rome's conquest of Egypt.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of Room E10 0f La Domus, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano, 130-140AD ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against an art background.<br /> <br /> The white-ground central panel had a figured decoration, already obliterated by repairs carried out in antiquity. In the squares to the sides of the upper area, swathes of white fabric bordered by green leaves and berries are depicted against a purplish red background. The side walls are decorated in a similar symmetrical way; in the squares there are various decorative elements, a stag in flight with a quiver nearby (perhaps an allusion to the myth of Actaeon who was transformed into a stag by Artemis, or, more simply, to hunting), a small head (gorgoneion) contained between volutes.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of Viridarium L of the Villa Farnesia, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against an art background.<br /> <br /> Rooms B and D, clearly bedrooms (cubicula), were symmetrically arranged and projected farther forward than the large room C (the triclinium). They opened onto a rectangular unroofed space that must have been a garden (viridarium). This was a genuine hortus conclusus (enclosed garden). The walls that surrounded the real garden were decorated with a painted garden, like an extension of the real one. The south wall was decorated with the three panels shown here: within dense vegetation there are huts made of reeds, jetting fountains, and a marble seat. The most complete example of this kind of room is the one from the Villa of Livia (on display on this floor of the museum), the prototype for the fashion that spread throughout the Roman world of painting gardens on interior walls and around real garden spaces.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of Viridarium L of the Villa Farnesia, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against an art background.<br /> <br /> Rooms B and D, clearly bedrooms (cubicula), were symmetrically arranged and projected farther forward than the large room C (the triclinium). They opened onto a rectangular unroofed space that must have been a garden (viridarium). This was a genuine hortus conclusus (enclosed garden). The walls that surrounded the real garden were decorated with a painted garden, like an extension of the real one. The south wall was decorated with the three panels shown here: within dense vegetation there are huts made of reeds, jetting fountains, and a marble seat. The most complete example of this kind of room is the one from the Villa of Livia (on display on this floor of the museum), the prototype for the fashion that spread throughout the Roman world of painting gardens on interior walls and around real garden spaces.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of the Balnea Baths, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against an art background.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of Room E10 0f La Domus, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano, 130-140AD ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against an art background.<br /> <br /> The white-ground central panel had a figured decoration, already obliterated by repairs carried out in antiquity. In the squares to the sides of the upper area, swathes of white fabric bordered by green leaves and berries are depicted against a purplish red background. The side walls are decorated in a similar symmetrical way; in the squares there are various decorative elements, a stag in flight with a quiver nearby (perhaps an allusion to the myth of Actaeon who was transformed into a stag by Artemis, or, more simply, to hunting), a small head (gorgoneion) contained between volutes.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of Vestibule of a Rome Villa, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against an art background.<br /> <br /> A large fresco covered the curving wall of the vestibule E 5 was positioned at the entrance of the house onto the street. Vitruvius claims that the vestibulum was a room which was not needed by common people, but which was essential in a house worthy of respect, because it served to welcome guests and the people who came to be received by the owners of the house. The frescoed decoration of this wall, which was entirely detached, shows a division into panels, architectural perspectives and pavilions among which are figures and decorative elements, above a band of skirting. Numerous panels have been detached from the corridor E 3 E 11 which connected all the areas of the house, but it has not been possible to reconstruct the sequence of the walls. Inside the frames, against a white background, different decorative elements are arranged, along with hanging female and male figures, hippogriffs and other fantastical animals, vases, garlands and vegetation.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of Room E9, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano, 130-140AD( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against an art background.
  • Fresco of Venus sitting restored as Roma known as the “Dea Barberini” (“Barberini goddess”), dating from the first quarter of the fourth century. A.D, excavated near to Baptistery of St. John Lateran , Rome Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against an art background.
  • Fresco of Venus sitting restored as Roma known as the “Dea Barberini” (“Barberini goddess”), dating from the first quarter of the fourth century. A.D, excavated near to Baptistery of St. John Lateran , Rome Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.
  • Roman Fresco with boats and marine life from the second quarter of the first century AD. (mosaico fauna marina da porto fluviale di san paolo), museo nazionale romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. inv. 121462 . Against a black background.<br /> The frescoes depict boats decorated as boats which went along the Tiber on festival days; their shape appears to be the caudicariae boats, used to transport merchandise. In the fresco fragment exhibited here (Ambiente E) the boat on the left depicts probably the group of 'side Serapide and Demetra on the stern, whereas the one on the right presents a crowned character on the bow and, on the stern, a feminine figure fluctuating in the air. Between the two boats, a young boy (a cupid or Palaimon-Portunus) rides a dolphin. All around are depicted several fish incredibly casting their shadows on the sea. The ichthyic fauna, lifeless as in still life decoration, is detailed as in a scientific catalogue. For the most part the represented species live next to the coast or were bred by the Romans in the piscinae salsac or in ponds. It is possible to recognize the rock mullet (mullus sunnuletus) and the mud one (mullus barbatu4 the scorpion fish (scorpoena) the dentex (dentex dentex), the aguglia (belone agus) the dolphin (delphinus delphis) and the golden mullet (lire curate).
  • Roman Fresco with boats and marine life from the second quarter of the first century AD. (mosaico fauna marina da porto fluviale di san paolo), museo nazionale romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. inv. 121462 . Against a black background.<br /> The frescoes depict boats decorated as boats which went along the Tiber on festival days; their shape appears to be the caudicariae boats, used to transport merchandise. In the fresco fragment exhibited here (Ambiente E) the boat on the left depicts probably the group of 'side Serapide and Demetra on the stern, whereas the one on the right presents a crowned character on the bow and, on the stern, a feminine figure fluctuating in the air. Between the two boats, a young boy (a cupid or Palaimon-Portunus) rides a dolphin. All around are depicted several fish incredibly casting their shadows on the sea. The ichthyic fauna, lifeless as in still life decoration, is detailed as in a scientific catalogue. For the most part the represented species live next to the coast or were bred by the Romans in the piscinae salsac or in ponds. It is possible to recognize the rock mullet (mullus sunnuletus) and the mud one (mullus barbatu4 the scorpion fish (scorpoena) the dentex (dentex dentex), the aguglia (belone agus) the dolphin (delphinus delphis) and the golden mullet (lire curate).
  • Roman Fresco with boats and marine life from the second quarter of the first century AD. (mosaico fauna marina da porto fluviale di san paolo), museo nazionale romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. inv. 121462 . Against a black background.<br /> The frescoes depict boats decorated as boats which went along the Tiber on festival days; their shape appears to be the caudicariae boats, used to transport merchandise. In the fresco fragment exhibited here (Ambiente E) the boat on the left depicts probably the group of 'side Serapide and Demetra on the stern, whereas the one on the right presents a crowned character on the bow and, on the stern, a feminine figure fluctuating in the air. Between the two boats, a young boy (a cupid or Palaimon-Portunus) rides a dolphin. All around are depicted several fish incredibly casting their shadows on the sea. The ichthyic fauna, lifeless as in still life decoration, is detailed as in a scientific catalogue. For the most part the represented species live next to the coast or were bred by the Romans in the piscinae salsac or in ponds. It is possible to recognize the rock mullet (mullus sunnuletus) and the mud one (mullus barbatu4 the scorpion fish (scorpoena) the dentex (dentex dentex), the aguglia (belone agus) the dolphin (delphinus delphis) and the golden mullet (lire curate).
  • Roman Fresco with a fight scene between octopus, lobster and eel, 125-150 AD. (mosaico fauna marina da porto fluviale di san paolo), museo nazionale romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. inv. 463Z4. Against a black background.<br /> <br /> Excavated from the Porto di San Paolo near the Via Portuense, these frescoes decorated the thermal area of a suburban Roman Villa. The reconstructed fresco fragments, depict a group of three fighting animals: an octopus (octopus vulgaris) clutches a moray eel (muraena helena) and a lobster (palinurus vulgaris) in its tentacles; around them mud mullets (mullus barbatus) and rock mullets (mullus surmuletus) try to escape. Incriptions on the frescoes suggesy that the villa owner was from Alexandria where this style of nautical mosaic and fresco decorations is found.
  • Roman Fresco with a fight scene between octopus, lobster and eel, 125-150 AD. (mosaico fauna marina da porto fluviale di san paolo), museo nazionale romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. inv. 463Z4. Against a black background.<br /> <br /> Excavated from the Porto di San Paolo near the Via Portuense, these frescoes decorated the thermal area of a suburban Roman Villa. The reconstructed fresco fragments, depict a group of three fighting animals: an octopus (octopus vulgaris) clutches a moray eel (muraena helena) and a lobster (palinurus vulgaris) in its tentacles; around them mud mullets (mullus barbatus) and rock mullets (mullus surmuletus) try to escape. Incriptions on the frescoes suggesy that the villa owner was from Alexandria where this style of nautical mosaic and fresco decorations is found.
  • Roman Fresco with boats and marine life from the second quarter of the first century AD. (mosaico fauna marina da porto fluviale di san paolo), museo nazionale romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. inv. 121462 . Against a black background.<br /> The frescoes depict boats decorated as boats which went along the Tiber on festival days; their shape appears to be the caudicariae boats, used to transport merchandise. In the fresco fragment exhibited here (Ambiente E) the boat on the left depicts probably the group of 'side Serapide and Demetra on the stern, whereas the one on the right presents a crowned character on the bow and, on the stern, a feminine figure fluctuating in the air. Between the two boats, a young boy (a cupid or Palaimon-Portunus) rides a dolphin. All around are depicted several fish incredibly casting their shadows on the sea. The ichthyic fauna, lifeless as in still life decoration, is detailed as in a scientific catalogue. For the most part the represented species live next to the coast or were bred by the Romans in the piscinae salsac or in ponds. It is possible to recognize the rock mullet (mullus sunnuletus) and the mud one (mullus barbatu4 the scorpion fish (scorpoena) the dentex (dentex dentex), the aguglia (belone agus) the dolphin (delphinus delphis) and the golden mullet (lire curate).
  • Roman fresco wall decoration frangmet from a Villa alongside the Tiber, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against a black background.
  • Roman Frescoes of the The Large Columbarium in Villa Doria Panphilj, Rome. A columbarium is usually a type of tomb with walls lined by niches that hold urns containing the ashes of the dead. Large columbaria were built in Rome between the end of the Republican Era and the Flavio Principality (second half of the first century AD). Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against a black background.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations from Villas of Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against a black background.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of Room E10 0f La Domus, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano, 130-140AD ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against a black background.<br /> <br /> The white-ground central panel had a figured decoration, already obliterated by repairs carried out in antiquity. In the squares to the sides of the upper area, swathes of white fabric bordered by green leaves and berries are depicted against a purplish red background. The side walls are decorated in a similar symmetrical way; in the squares there are various decorative elements, a stag in flight with a quiver nearby (perhaps an allusion to the myth of Actaeon who was transformed into a stag by Artemis, or, more simply, to hunting), a small head (gorgoneion) contained between volutes.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of Viridarium L of the Villa Farnesia, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against a black background.<br /> <br /> Rooms B and D, clearly bedrooms (cubicula), were symmetrically arranged and projected farther forward than the large room C (the triclinium). They opened onto a rectangular unroofed space that must have been a garden (viridarium). This was a genuine hortus conclusus (enclosed garden). The walls that surrounded the real garden were decorated with a painted garden, like an extension of the real one. The south wall was decorated with the three panels shown here: within dense vegetation there are huts made of reeds, jetting fountains, and a marble seat. The most complete example of this kind of room is the one from the Villa of Livia (on display on this floor of the museum), the prototype for the fashion that spread throughout the Roman world of painting gardens on interior walls and around real garden spaces.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of the Balnea Baths, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against a black background.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of Viridarium L of the Villa Farnesia, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against a black background.<br /> <br /> Rooms B and D, clearly bedrooms (cubicula), were symmetrically arranged and projected farther forward than the large room C (the triclinium). They opened onto a rectangular unroofed space that must have been a garden (viridarium). This was a genuine hortus conclusus (enclosed garden). The walls that surrounded the real garden were decorated with a painted garden, like an extension of the real one. The south wall was decorated with the three panels shown here: within dense vegetation there are huts made of reeds, jetting fountains, and a marble seat. The most complete example of this kind of room is the one from the Villa of Livia (on display on this floor of the museum), the prototype for the fashion that spread throughout the Roman world of painting gardens on interior walls and around real garden spaces.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of Vestibule of a Rome Villa, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against a black background.<br /> <br /> A large fresco covered the curving wall of the vestibule E 5 was positioned at the entrance of the house onto the street. Vitruvius claims that the vestibulum was a room which was not needed by common people, but which was essential in a house worthy of respect, because it served to welcome guests and the people who came to be received by the owners of the house. The frescoed decoration of this wall, which was entirely detached, shows a division into panels, architectural perspectives and pavilions among which are figures and decorative elements, above a band of skirting. Numerous panels have been detached from the corridor E 3 E 11 which connected all the areas of the house, but it has not been possible to reconstruct the sequence of the walls. Inside the frames, against a white background, different decorative elements are arranged, along with hanging female and male figures, hippogriffs and other fantastical animals, vases, garlands and vegetation.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of Room E10 0f La Domus, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano, 130-140AD ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against a black background.<br /> <br /> The white-ground central panel had a figured decoration, already obliterated by repairs carried out in antiquity. In the squares to the sides of the upper area, swathes of white fabric bordered by green leaves and berries are depicted against a purplish red background. The side walls are decorated in a similar symmetrical way; in the squares there are various decorative elements, a stag in flight with a quiver nearby (perhaps an allusion to the myth of Actaeon who was transformed into a stag by Artemis, or, more simply, to hunting), a small head (gorgoneion) contained between volutes.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of Room E9, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano, 130-140AD( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against a black background.
  • Fresco of Venus sitting restored as Roma known as the “Dea Barberini” (“Barberini goddess”), dating from the first quarter of the fourth century. A.D, excavated near to Baptistery of St. John Lateran , Rome Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against a black background.
  • Roman Frescoes of the The Large Columbarium in Villa Doria Panphilj, Rome. A columbarium is usually a type of tomb with walls lined by niches that hold urns containing the ashes of the dead. Large columbaria were built in Rome between the end of the Republican Era and the Flavio Principality (second half of the first century AD). Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against a black background.
  • Roman Frescoes of the The Large Columbarium in Villa Doria Panphilj, Rome. A columbarium is usually a type of tomb with walls lined by niches that hold urns containing the ashes of the dead. Large columbaria were built in Rome between the end of the Republican Era and the Flavio Principality (second half of the first century AD). Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against a black background.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of Corridor F-G of the Villa Farnesia, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against a black background.<br /> <br /> The corridor was a covered passageway that connected the two wings of the villa, partly straight and partly curved, following the shape of the central esedra. The elements that remain are from the inner walkway. The wall is divided by slender columns. Their capitals support female figures whose architectural function is in turn to support the columns of the superstructure. The female figures hold floral garlands that link them to one another. They may be meant to represent Caryatids, the women of Caria sold into slavery, who gave the name to female figures used as supports instead of columns. The most important part of the decoration is the small pictures in the upper zone: still lifes with masks from the theater alternate with imaginary landscapes, shrines, statues of divinities, little aedicula, and altars, the whole populated by figures of peasants, fishermen, and shepherds. The scene depicting a naval battle on the curved part may well refer to the battle of Actium that led to Rome's conquest of Egypt.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations from Villas of Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against a black background.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations from Villas of Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against a black background.
  • Roman Fresco with a boat decorated for a festival and marine life from the second quarter of the first century AD. (mosaico fauna marina da porto fluviale di san paolo), museo nazionale romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. inv. 121462 . Against a black background.<br /> The frescoes depict boats decorated as boats which went along the Tiber on festival days; their shape appears to be the caudicariae boats, used to transport merchandise. In the fresco fragment exhibited here (Ambiente E) the boat on the left depicts probably the group of 'side Serapide and Demetra on the stern, whereas the one on the right presents a crowned character on the bow and, on the stern, a feminine figure fluctuating in the air. Between the two boats, a young boy (a cupid or Palaimon-Portunus) rides a dolphin. All around are depicted several fish incredibly casting their shadows on the sea. The ichthyic fauna, lifeless as in still life decoration, is detailed as in a scientific catalogue. For the most part the represented species live next to the coast or were bred by the Romans in the piscinae salsac or in ponds. It is possible to recognize the rock mullet (mullus sunnuletus) and the mud one (mullus barbatu4 the scorpion fish (scorpoena) the dentex (dentex dentex), the aguglia (belone agus) the dolphin (delphinus delphis) and the golden mullet (lire curate).
  • Roman Fresco with a fight scene between octopus, lobster and eel, 125-150 AD. (mosaico fauna marina da porto fluviale di san paolo), museo nazionale romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. inv. 463Z4. Against a grey background.<br /> <br /> Excavated from the Porto di San Paolo near the Via Portuense, these frescoes decorated the thermal area of a suburban Roman Villa. The reconstructed fresco fragments, depict a group of three fighting animals: an octopus (octopus vulgaris) clutches a moray eel (muraena helena) and a lobster (palinurus vulgaris) in its tentacles; around them mud mullets (mullus barbatus) and rock mullets (mullus surmuletus) try to escape. Incriptions on the frescoes suggesy that the villa owner was from Alexandria where this style of nautical mosaic and fresco decorations is found.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations from Villas of Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against a grey background.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations from Villas of Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against a grey background.
  • Roman fresco wall decoration frangmet from a Villa alongside the Tiber, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against a grey background.
  • Roman Frescoes of the The Large Columbarium in Villa Doria Panphilj, Rome. A columbarium is usually a type of tomb with walls lined by niches that hold urns containing the ashes of the dead. Large columbaria were built in Rome between the end of the Republican Era and the Flavio Principality (second half of the first century AD). Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against a grey background.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of Viridarium L of the Villa Farnesia, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against a grey background.<br /> <br /> Rooms B and D, clearly bedrooms (cubicula), were symmetrically arranged and projected farther forward than the large room C (the triclinium). They opened onto a rectangular unroofed space that must have been a garden (viridarium). This was a genuine hortus conclusus (enclosed garden). The walls that surrounded the real garden were decorated with a painted garden, like an extension of the real one. The south wall was decorated with the three panels shown here: within dense vegetation there are huts made of reeds, jetting fountains, and a marble seat. The most complete example of this kind of room is the one from the Villa of Livia (on display on this floor of the museum), the prototype for the fashion that spread throughout the Roman world of painting gardens on interior walls and around real garden spaces.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of Viridarium L of the Villa Farnesia, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against a grey background.<br /> <br /> Rooms B and D, clearly bedrooms (cubicula), were symmetrically arranged and projected farther forward than the large room C (the triclinium). They opened onto a rectangular unroofed space that must have been a garden (viridarium). This was a genuine hortus conclusus (enclosed garden). The walls that surrounded the real garden were decorated with a painted garden, like an extension of the real one. The south wall was decorated with the three panels shown here: within dense vegetation there are huts made of reeds, jetting fountains, and a marble seat. The most complete example of this kind of room is the one from the Villa of Livia (on display on this floor of the museum), the prototype for the fashion that spread throughout the Roman world of painting gardens on interior walls and around real garden spaces.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of Room E9, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano, 130-140AD( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against a grey background.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of Corridor F-G of the Villa Farnesia, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against a grey background.<br /> <br /> The corridor was a covered passageway that connected the two wings of the villa, partly straight and partly curved, following the shape of the central esedra. The elements that remain are from the inner walkway. The wall is divided by slender columns. Their capitals support female figures whose architectural function is in turn to support the columns of the superstructure. The female figures hold floral garlands that link them to one another. They may be meant to represent Caryatids, the women of Caria sold into slavery, who gave the name to female figures used as supports instead of columns. The most important part of the decoration is the small pictures in the upper zone: still lifes with masks from the theater alternate with imaginary landscapes, shrines, statues of divinities, little aedicula, and altars, the whole populated by figures of peasants, fishermen, and shepherds. The scene depicting a naval battle on the curved part may well refer to the battle of Actium that led to Rome's conquest of Egypt.
  • Roman Frescoes of the The Large Columbarium in Villa Doria Panphilj, Rome. A columbarium is usually a type of tomb with walls lined by niches that hold urns containing the ashes of the dead. Large columbaria were built in Rome between the end of the Republican Era and the Flavio Principality (second half of the first century AD). Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against a grey background.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of Vestibule of a Rome Villa, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against a grey background.<br /> <br /> A large fresco covered the curving wall of the vestibule E 5 was positioned at the entrance of the house onto the street. Vitruvius claims that the vestibulum was a room which was not needed by common people, but which was essential in a house worthy of respect, because it served to welcome guests and the people who came to be received by the owners of the house. The frescoed decoration of this wall, which was entirely detached, shows a division into panels, architectural perspectives and pavilions among which are figures and decorative elements, above a band of skirting. Numerous panels have been detached from the corridor E 3 E 11 which connected all the areas of the house, but it has not been possible to reconstruct the sequence of the walls. Inside the frames, against a white background, different decorative elements are arranged, along with hanging female and male figures, hippogriffs and other fantastical animals, vases, garlands and vegetation.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of Room E10 0f La Domus, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano, 130-140AD ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against a grey background.<br /> <br /> The white-ground central panel had a figured decoration, already obliterated by repairs carried out in antiquity. In the squares to the sides of the upper area, swathes of white fabric bordered by green leaves and berries are depicted against a purplish red background. The side walls are decorated in a similar symmetrical way; in the squares there are various decorative elements, a stag in flight with a quiver nearby (perhaps an allusion to the myth of Actaeon who was transformed into a stag by Artemis, or, more simply, to hunting), a small head (gorgoneion) contained between volutes.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of Room E10 0f La Domus, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano, 130-140AD ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against a grey background.<br /> <br /> The white-ground central panel had a figured decoration, already obliterated by repairs carried out in antiquity. In the squares to the sides of the upper area, swathes of white fabric bordered by green leaves and berries are depicted against a purplish red background. The side walls are decorated in a similar symmetrical way; in the squares there are various decorative elements, a stag in flight with a quiver nearby (perhaps an allusion to the myth of Actaeon who was transformed into a stag by Artemis, or, more simply, to hunting), a small head (gorgoneion) contained between volutes.
  • Roman Fresco with a fight scene between octopus, lobster and eel, 125-150 AD. (mosaico fauna marina da porto fluviale di san paolo), museo nazionale romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. inv. 463Z4. Against a grey background.<br /> <br /> Excavated from the Porto di San Paolo near the Via Portuense, these frescoes decorated the thermal area of a suburban Roman Villa. The reconstructed fresco fragments, depict a group of three fighting animals: an octopus (octopus vulgaris) clutches a moray eel (muraena helena) and a lobster (palinurus vulgaris) in its tentacles; around them mud mullets (mullus barbatus) and rock mullets (mullus surmuletus) try to escape. Incriptions on the frescoes suggesy that the villa owner was from Alexandria where this style of nautical mosaic and fresco decorations is found.
  • Roman Fresco with boats and marine life from the second quarter of the first century AD. (mosaico fauna marina da porto fluviale di san paolo), museo nazionale romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. inv. 121462 . Against a grey background.<br /> The frescoes depict boats decorated as boats which went along the Tiber on festival days; their shape appears to be the caudicariae boats, used to transport merchandise. In the fresco fragment exhibited here (Ambiente E) the boat on the left depicts probably the group of 'side Serapide and Demetra on the stern, whereas the one on the right presents a crowned character on the bow and, on the stern, a feminine figure fluctuating in the air. Between the two boats, a young boy (a cupid or Palaimon-Portunus) rides a dolphin. All around are depicted several fish incredibly casting their shadows on the sea. The ichthyic fauna, lifeless as in still life decoration, is detailed as in a scientific catalogue. For the most part the represented species live next to the coast or were bred by the Romans in the piscinae salsac or in ponds. It is possible to recognize the rock mullet (mullus sunnuletus) and the mud one (mullus barbatu4 the scorpion fish (scorpoena) the dentex (dentex dentex), the aguglia (belone agus) the dolphin (delphinus delphis) and the golden mullet (lire curate).
  • Roman Fresco with a boat decorated for a festival and marine life from the second quarter of the first century AD. (mosaico fauna marina da porto fluviale di san paolo), museo nazionale romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. inv. 121462 . Against a grey background.<br /> The frescoes depict boats decorated as boats which went along the Tiber on festival days; their shape appears to be the caudicariae boats, used to transport merchandise. In the fresco fragment exhibited here (Ambiente E) the boat on the left depicts probably the group of 'side Serapide and Demetra on the stern, whereas the one on the right presents a crowned character on the bow and, on the stern, a feminine figure fluctuating in the air. Between the two boats, a young boy (a cupid or Palaimon-Portunus) rides a dolphin. All around are depicted several fish incredibly casting their shadows on the sea. The ichthyic fauna, lifeless as in still life decoration, is detailed as in a scientific catalogue. For the most part the represented species live next to the coast or were bred by the Romans in the piscinae salsac or in ponds. It is possible to recognize the rock mullet (mullus sunnuletus) and the mud one (mullus barbatu4 the scorpion fish (scorpoena) the dentex (dentex dentex), the aguglia (belone agus) the dolphin (delphinus delphis) and the golden mullet (lire curate).
  • Fresco of Venus sitting restored as Roma known as the “Dea Barberini” (“Barberini goddess”), dating from the first quarter of the fourth century. A.D, excavated near to Baptistery of St. John Lateran , Rome Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against a grey background.
  • Roman Fresco with boats and marine life from the second quarter of the first century AD. (mosaico fauna marina da porto fluviale di san paolo), museo nazionale romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. inv. 121462 . Against a white background.<br /> The frescoes depict boats decorated as boats which went along the Tiber on festival days; their shape appears to be the caudicariae boats, used to transport merchandise. In the fresco fragment exhibited here (Ambiente E) the boat on the left depicts probably the group of 'side Serapide and Demetra on the stern, whereas the one on the right presents a crowned character on the bow and, on the stern, a feminine figure fluctuating in the air. Between the two boats, a young boy (a cupid or Palaimon-Portunus) rides a dolphin. All around are depicted several fish incredibly casting their shadows on the sea. The ichthyic fauna, lifeless as in still life decoration, is detailed as in a scientific catalogue. For the most part the represented species live next to the coast or were bred by the Romans in the piscinae salsac or in ponds. It is possible to recognize the rock mullet (mullus sunnuletus) and the mud one (mullus barbatu4 the scorpion fish (scorpoena) the dentex (dentex dentex), the aguglia (belone agus) the dolphin (delphinus delphis) and the golden mullet (lire curate).
  • Roman Fresco with boats and marine life from the second quarter of the first century AD. (mosaico fauna marina da porto fluviale di san paolo), museo nazionale romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. inv. 121462 . Against a white background.<br /> The frescoes depict boats decorated as boats which went along the Tiber on festival days; their shape appears to be the caudicariae boats, used to transport merchandise. In the fresco fragment exhibited here (Ambiente E) the boat on the left depicts probably the group of 'side Serapide and Demetra on the stern, whereas the one on the right presents a crowned character on the bow and, on the stern, a feminine figure fluctuating in the air. Between the two boats, a young boy (a cupid or Palaimon-Portunus) rides a dolphin. All around are depicted several fish incredibly casting their shadows on the sea. The ichthyic fauna, lifeless as in still life decoration, is detailed as in a scientific catalogue. For the most part the represented species live next to the coast or were bred by the Romans in the piscinae salsac or in ponds. It is possible to recognize the rock mullet (mullus sunnuletus) and the mud one (mullus barbatu4 the scorpion fish (scorpoena) the dentex (dentex dentex), the aguglia (belone agus) the dolphin (delphinus delphis) and the golden mullet (lire curate).
  • Roman Fresco with boats and marine life from the second quarter of the first century AD. (mosaico fauna marina da porto fluviale di san paolo), museo nazionale romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. inv. 121462 . Against a white background.<br /> The frescoes depict boats decorated as boats which went along the Tiber on festival days; their shape appears to be the caudicariae boats, used to transport merchandise. In the fresco fragment exhibited here (Ambiente E) the boat on the left depicts probably the group of 'side Serapide and Demetra on the stern, whereas the one on the right presents a crowned character on the bow and, on the stern, a feminine figure fluctuating in the air. Between the two boats, a young boy (a cupid or Palaimon-Portunus) rides a dolphin. All around are depicted several fish incredibly casting their shadows on the sea. The ichthyic fauna, lifeless as in still life decoration, is detailed as in a scientific catalogue. For the most part the represented species live next to the coast or were bred by the Romans in the piscinae salsac or in ponds. It is possible to recognize the rock mullet (mullus sunnuletus) and the mud one (mullus barbatu4 the scorpion fish (scorpoena) the dentex (dentex dentex), the aguglia (belone agus) the dolphin (delphinus delphis) and the golden mullet (lire curate).
  • Roman Fresco with a boat decorated for a festival and marine life from the second quarter of the first century AD. (mosaico fauna marina da porto fluviale di san paolo), museo nazionale romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. inv. 121462 . Against a white background.<br /> The frescoes depict boats decorated as boats which went along the Tiber on festival days; their shape appears to be the caudicariae boats, used to transport merchandise. In the fresco fragment exhibited here (Ambiente E) the boat on the left depicts probably the group of 'side Serapide and Demetra on the stern, whereas the one on the right presents a crowned character on the bow and, on the stern, a feminine figure fluctuating in the air. Between the two boats, a young boy (a cupid or Palaimon-Portunus) rides a dolphin. All around are depicted several fish incredibly casting their shadows on the sea. The ichthyic fauna, lifeless as in still life decoration, is detailed as in a scientific catalogue. For the most part the represented species live next to the coast or were bred by the Romans in the piscinae salsac or in ponds. It is possible to recognize the rock mullet (mullus sunnuletus) and the mud one (mullus barbatu4 the scorpion fish (scorpoena) the dentex (dentex dentex), the aguglia (belone agus) the dolphin (delphinus delphis) and the golden mullet (lire curate).
  • Roman Fresco with boats and marine life from the second quarter of the first century AD. (mosaico fauna marina da porto fluviale di san paolo), museo nazionale romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. inv. 121462 . Against a white background.<br /> The frescoes depict boats decorated as boats which went along the Tiber on festival days; their shape appears to be the caudicariae boats, used to transport merchandise. In the fresco fragment exhibited here (Ambiente E) the boat on the left depicts probably the group of 'side Serapide and Demetra on the stern, whereas the one on the right presents a crowned character on the bow and, on the stern, a feminine figure fluctuating in the air. Between the two boats, a young boy (a cupid or Palaimon-Portunus) rides a dolphin. All around are depicted several fish incredibly casting their shadows on the sea. The ichthyic fauna, lifeless as in still life decoration, is detailed as in a scientific catalogue. For the most part the represented species live next to the coast or were bred by the Romans in the piscinae salsac or in ponds. It is possible to recognize the rock mullet (mullus sunnuletus) and the mud one (mullus barbatu4 the scorpion fish (scorpoena) the dentex (dentex dentex), the aguglia (belone agus) the dolphin (delphinus delphis) and the golden mullet (lire curate).
  • Roman Fresco with a fight scene between octopus, lobster and eel, 125-150 AD. (mosaico fauna marina da porto fluviale di san paolo), museo nazionale romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. inv. 463Z4. Against a white background.<br /> <br /> Excavated from the Porto di San Paolo near the Via Portuense, these frescoes decorated the thermal area of a suburban Roman Villa. The reconstructed fresco fragments, depict a group of three fighting animals: an octopus (octopus vulgaris) clutches a moray eel (muraena helena) and a lobster (palinurus vulgaris) in its tentacles; around them mud mullets (mullus barbatus) and rock mullets (mullus surmuletus) try to escape. Incriptions on the frescoes suggesy that the villa owner was from Alexandria where this style of nautical mosaic and fresco decorations is found.
  • Roman Fresco with a fight scene between octopus, lobster and eel, 125-150 AD. (mosaico fauna marina da porto fluviale di san paolo), museo nazionale romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. inv. 463Z4. Against a white background.<br /> <br /> Excavated from the Porto di San Paolo near the Via Portuense, these frescoes decorated the thermal area of a suburban Roman Villa. The reconstructed fresco fragments, depict a group of three fighting animals: an octopus (octopus vulgaris) clutches a moray eel (muraena helena) and a lobster (palinurus vulgaris) in its tentacles; around them mud mullets (mullus barbatus) and rock mullets (mullus surmuletus) try to escape. Incriptions on the frescoes suggesy that the villa owner was from Alexandria where this style of nautical mosaic and fresco decorations is found.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations from Villas of Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against a white background.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations from Villas of Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against a white background.
  • Roman fresco wall decoration frangmet from a Villa alongside the Tiber, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against a white background.
  • Roman Frescoes of the The Large Columbarium in Villa Doria Panphilj, Rome. A columbarium is usually a type of tomb with walls lined by niches that hold urns containing the ashes of the dead. Large columbaria were built in Rome between the end of the Republican Era and the Flavio Principality (second half of the first century AD). Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against a white background.
  • Roman Frescoes of the The Large Columbarium in Villa Doria Panphilj, Rome. A columbarium is usually a type of tomb with walls lined by niches that hold urns containing the ashes of the dead. Large columbaria were built in Rome between the end of the Republican Era and the Flavio Principality (second half of the first century AD). Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations from a Villa of Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against a white background.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of Viridarium L of the Villa Farnesia, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against a white background.<br /> <br /> Rooms B and D, clearly bedrooms (cubicula), were symmetrically arranged and projected farther forward than the large room C (the triclinium). They opened onto a rectangular unroofed space that must have been a garden (viridarium). This was a genuine hortus conclusus (enclosed garden). The walls that surrounded the real garden were decorated with a painted garden, like an extension of the real one. The south wall was decorated with the three panels shown here: within dense vegetation there are huts made of reeds, jetting fountains, and a marble seat. The most complete example of this kind of room is the one from the Villa of Livia (on display on this floor of the museum), the prototype for the fashion that spread throughout the Roman world of painting gardens on interior walls and around real garden spaces.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of Viridarium L of the Villa Farnesia, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against a white background.<br /> <br /> Rooms B and D, clearly bedrooms (cubicula), were symmetrically arranged and projected farther forward than the large room C (the triclinium). They opened onto a rectangular unroofed space that must have been a garden (viridarium). This was a genuine hortus conclusus (enclosed garden). The walls that surrounded the real garden were decorated with a painted garden, like an extension of the real one. The south wall was decorated with the three panels shown here: within dense vegetation there are huts made of reeds, jetting fountains, and a marble seat. The most complete example of this kind of room is the one from the Villa of Livia (on display on this floor of the museum), the prototype for the fashion that spread throughout the Roman world of painting gardens on interior walls and around real garden spaces.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of Room E9, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano, 130-140AD( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against a white background.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of Room E10 0f La Domus, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano, 130-140AD ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against a white background.<br /> <br /> The white-ground central panel had a figured decoration, already obliterated by repairs carried out in antiquity. In the squares to the sides of the upper area, swathes of white fabric bordered by green leaves and berries are depicted against a purplish red background. The side walls are decorated in a similar symmetrical way; in the squares there are various decorative elements, a stag in flight with a quiver nearby (perhaps an allusion to the myth of Actaeon who was transformed into a stag by Artemis, or, more simply, to hunting), a small head (gorgoneion) contained between volutes.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of Room E10 0f La Domus, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano, 130-140AD ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against a white background.<br /> <br /> The white-ground central panel had a figured decoration, already obliterated by repairs carried out in antiquity. In the squares to the sides of the upper area, swathes of white fabric bordered by green leaves and berries are depicted against a purplish red background. The side walls are decorated in a similar symmetrical way; in the squares there are various decorative elements, a stag in flight with a quiver nearby (perhaps an allusion to the myth of Actaeon who was transformed into a stag by Artemis, or, more simply, to hunting), a small head (gorgoneion) contained between volutes.
  • Roman Frescoes of the The Large Columbarium in Villa Doria Panphilj, Rome. A columbarium is usually a type of tomb with walls lined by niches that hold urns containing the ashes of the dead. Large columbaria were built in Rome between the end of the Republican Era and the Flavio Principality (second half of the first century AD). Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against a white background.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of Corridor F-G of the Villa Farnesia, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against a white background.<br /> <br /> The corridor was a covered passageway that connected the two wings of the villa, partly straight and partly curved, following the shape of the central esedra. The elements that remain are from the inner walkway. The wall is divided by slender columns. Their capitals support female figures whose architectural function is in turn to support the columns of the superstructure. The female figures hold floral garlands that link them to one another. They may be meant to represent Caryatids, the women of Caria sold into slavery, who gave the name to female figures used as supports instead of columns. The most important part of the decoration is the small pictures in the upper zone: still lifes with masks from the theater alternate with imaginary landscapes, shrines, statues of divinities, little aedicula, and altars, the whole populated by figures of peasants, fishermen, and shepherds. The scene depicting a naval battle on the curved part may well refer to the battle of Actium that led to Rome's conquest of Egypt.
  • Fresco of Venus sitting restored as Roma known as the “Dea Barberini” (“Barberini goddess”), dating from the first quarter of the fourth century. A.D, excavated near to Baptistery of St. John Lateran , Rome Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against a white background.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of the Balnea Baths, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against a white background.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of Vestibule of a Rome Villa, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against a white background.<br /> <br /> A large fresco covered the curving wall of the vestibule E 5 was positioned at the entrance of the house onto the street. Vitruvius claims that the vestibulum was a room which was not needed by common people, but which was essential in a house worthy of respect, because it served to welcome guests and the people who came to be received by the owners of the house. The frescoed decoration of this wall, which was entirely detached, shows a division into panels, architectural perspectives and pavilions among which are figures and decorative elements, above a band of skirting. Numerous panels have been detached from the corridor E 3 E 11 which connected all the areas of the house, but it has not been possible to reconstruct the sequence of the walls. Inside the frames, against a white background, different decorative elements are arranged, along with hanging female and male figures, hippogriffs and other fantastical animals, vases, garlands and vegetation.
  • Roman Frescoes of the The Large Columbarium in Villa Doria Panphilj, Rome. A columbarium is usually a type of tomb with walls lined by niches that hold urns containing the ashes of the dead. Large columbaria were built in Rome between the end of the Republican Era and the Flavio Principality (second half of the first century AD). Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. Against a white background.
  • Roman Fresco with boats and marine life from the second quarter of the first century AD. (mosaico fauna marina da porto fluviale di san paolo), museo nazionale romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. inv. 121462 . <br /> The frescoes depict boats decorated as boats which went along the Tiber on festival days; their shape appears to be the caudicariae boats, used to transport merchandise. In the fresco fragment exhibited here (Ambiente E) the boat on the left depicts probably the group of 'side Serapide and Demetra on the stern, whereas the one on the right presents a crowned character on the bow and, on the stern, a feminine figure fluctuating in the air. Between the two boats, a young boy (a cupid or Palaimon-Portunus) rides a dolphin. All around are depicted several fish incredibly casting their shadows on the sea. The ichthyic fauna, lifeless as in still life decoration, is detailed as in a scientific catalogue. For the most part the represented species live next to the coast or were bred by the Romans in the piscinae salsac or in ponds. It is possible to recognize the rock mullet (mullus sunnuletus) and the mud one (mullus barbatu4 the scorpion fish (scorpoena) the dentex (dentex dentex), the aguglia (belone agus) the dolphin (delphinus delphis) and the golden mullet (lire curate).
  • Roman Fresco with boats and marine life from the second quarter of the first century AD. (mosaico fauna marina da porto fluviale di san paolo), museo nazionale romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. inv. 121462 . Against a grey background.<br /> The frescoes depict boats decorated as boats which went along the Tiber on festival days; their shape appears to be the caudicariae boats, used to transport merchandise. In the fresco fragment exhibited here (Ambiente E) the boat on the left depicts probably the group of 'side Serapide and Demetra on the stern, whereas the one on the right presents a crowned character on the bow and, on the stern, a feminine figure fluctuating in the air. Between the two boats, a young boy (a cupid or Palaimon-Portunus) rides a dolphin. All around are depicted several fish incredibly casting their shadows on the sea. The ichthyic fauna, lifeless as in still life decoration, is detailed as in a scientific catalogue. For the most part the represented species live next to the coast or were bred by the Romans in the piscinae salsac or in ponds. It is possible to recognize the rock mullet (mullus sunnuletus) and the mud one (mullus barbatu4 the scorpion fish (scorpoena) the dentex (dentex dentex), the aguglia (belone agus) the dolphin (delphinus delphis) and the golden mullet (lire curate).
  • Roman Fresco with boats and marine life from the second quarter of the first century AD. (mosaico fauna marina da porto fluviale di san paolo), museo nazionale romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. inv. 121462 . Against a grey background.<br /> The frescoes depict boats decorated as boats which went along the Tiber on festival days; their shape appears to be the caudicariae boats, used to transport merchandise. In the fresco fragment exhibited here (Ambiente E) the boat on the left depicts probably the group of 'side Serapide and Demetra on the stern, whereas the one on the right presents a crowned character on the bow and, on the stern, a feminine figure fluctuating in the air. Between the two boats, a young boy (a cupid or Palaimon-Portunus) rides a dolphin. All around are depicted several fish incredibly casting their shadows on the sea. The ichthyic fauna, lifeless as in still life decoration, is detailed as in a scientific catalogue. For the most part the represented species live next to the coast or were bred by the Romans in the piscinae salsac or in ponds. It is possible to recognize the rock mullet (mullus sunnuletus) and the mud one (mullus barbatu4 the scorpion fish (scorpoena) the dentex (dentex dentex), the aguglia (belone agus) the dolphin (delphinus delphis) and the golden mullet (lire curate).
  • Roman Fresco with a boat decorated for a festival and marine life from the second quarter of the first century AD. (mosaico fauna marina da porto fluviale di san paolo), museo nazionale romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. inv. 121462 . <br /> The frescoes depict boats decorated as boats which went along the Tiber on festival days; their shape appears to be the caudicariae boats, used to transport merchandise. In the fresco fragment exhibited here (Ambiente E) the boat on the left depicts probably the group of 'side Serapide and Demetra on the stern, whereas the one on the right presents a crowned character on the bow and, on the stern, a feminine figure fluctuating in the air. Between the two boats, a young boy (a cupid or Palaimon-Portunus) rides a dolphin. All around are depicted several fish incredibly casting their shadows on the sea. The ichthyic fauna, lifeless as in still life decoration, is detailed as in a scientific catalogue. For the most part the represented species live next to the coast or were bred by the Romans in the piscinae salsac or in ponds. It is possible to recognize the rock mullet (mullus sunnuletus) and the mud one (mullus barbatu4 the scorpion fish (scorpoena) the dentex (dentex dentex), the aguglia (belone agus) the dolphin (delphinus delphis) and the golden mullet (lire curate).
  • Roman Fresco with a fight scene between octopus, lobster and eel, 125-150 AD. (mosaico fauna marina da porto fluviale di san paolo), museo nazionale romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. inv. 463Z4. <br /> <br /> Excavated from the Porto di San Paolo near the Via Portuense, these frescoes decorated the thermal area of a suburban Roman Villa. The reconstructed fresco fragments, depict a group of three fighting animals: an octopus (octopus vulgaris) clutches a moray eel (muraena helena) and a lobster (palinurus vulgaris) in its tentacles; around them mud mullets (mullus barbatus) and rock mullets (mullus surmuletus) try to escape. Incriptions on the frescoes suggesy that the villa owner was from Alexandria where this style of nautical mosaic and fresco decorations is found.
  • Roman Fresco with a fight scene between octopus, lobster and eel, 125-150 AD. (mosaico fauna marina da porto fluviale di san paolo), museo nazionale romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. inv. 463Z4. <br /> <br /> Excavated from the Porto di San Paolo near the Via Portuense, these frescoes decorated the thermal area of a suburban Roman Villa. The reconstructed fresco fragments, depict a group of three fighting animals: an octopus (octopus vulgaris) clutches a moray eel (muraena helena) and a lobster (palinurus vulgaris) in its tentacles; around them mud mullets (mullus barbatus) and rock mullets (mullus surmuletus) try to escape. Incriptions on the frescoes suggesy that the villa owner was from Alexandria where this style of nautical mosaic and fresco decorations is found.
  • Roman Fresco with boats and marine life from the second quarter of the first century AD. (mosaico fauna marina da porto fluviale di san paolo), museo nazionale romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. inv. 121462 . <br /> The frescoes depict boats decorated as boats which went along the Tiber on festival days; their shape appears to be the caudicariae boats, used to transport merchandise. In the fresco fragment exhibited here (Ambiente E) the boat on the left depicts probably the group of 'side Serapide and Demetra on the stern, whereas the one on the right presents a crowned character on the bow and, on the stern, a feminine figure fluctuating in the air. Between the two boats, a young boy (a cupid or Palaimon-Portunus) rides a dolphin. All around are depicted several fish incredibly casting their shadows on the sea. The ichthyic fauna, lifeless as in still life decoration, is detailed as in a scientific catalogue. For the most part the represented species live next to the coast or were bred by the Romans in the piscinae salsac or in ponds. It is possible to recognize the rock mullet (mullus sunnuletus) and the mud one (mullus barbatu4 the scorpion fish (scorpoena) the dentex (dentex dentex), the aguglia (belone agus) the dolphin (delphinus delphis) and the golden mullet (lire curate).
  • Roman fresco wall decorations from Villas of Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.
  • Roman Fresco with boats and marine life from the second quarter of the first century AD. (mosaico fauna marina da porto fluviale di san paolo), museo nazionale romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. inv. 121462 . <br /> The frescoes depict boats decorated as boats which went along the Tiber on festival days; their shape appears to be the caudicariae boats, used to transport merchandise. In the fresco fragment exhibited here (Ambiente E) the boat on the left depicts probably the group of 'side Serapide and Demetra on the stern, whereas the one on the right presents a crowned character on the bow and, on the stern, a feminine figure fluctuating in the air. Between the two boats, a young boy (a cupid or Palaimon-Portunus) rides a dolphin. All around are depicted several fish incredibly casting their shadows on the sea. The ichthyic fauna, lifeless as in still life decoration, is detailed as in a scientific catalogue. For the most part the represented species live next to the coast or were bred by the Romans in the piscinae salsac or in ponds. It is possible to recognize the rock mullet (mullus sunnuletus) and the mud one (mullus barbatu4 the scorpion fish (scorpoena) the dentex (dentex dentex), the aguglia (belone agus) the dolphin (delphinus delphis) and the golden mullet (lire curate).
  • Roman Fresco with boats and marine life from the second quarter of the first century AD. (mosaico fauna marina da porto fluviale di san paolo), museo nazionale romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy. inv. 121462 . Against a grey background.<br /> The frescoes depict boats decorated as boats which went along the Tiber on festival days; their shape appears to be the caudicariae boats, used to transport merchandise. In the fresco fragment exhibited here (Ambiente E) the boat on the left depicts probably the group of 'side Serapide and Demetra on the stern, whereas the one on the right presents a crowned character on the bow and, on the stern, a feminine figure fluctuating in the air. Between the two boats, a young boy (a cupid or Palaimon-Portunus) rides a dolphin. All around are depicted several fish incredibly casting their shadows on the sea. The ichthyic fauna, lifeless as in still life decoration, is detailed as in a scientific catalogue. For the most part the represented species live next to the coast or were bred by the Romans in the piscinae salsac or in ponds. It is possible to recognize the rock mullet (mullus sunnuletus) and the mud one (mullus barbatu4 the scorpion fish (scorpoena) the dentex (dentex dentex), the aguglia (belone agus) the dolphin (delphinus delphis) and the golden mullet (lire curate).
  • Roman Frescoes of the The Large Columbarium in Villa Doria Panphilj, Rome. A columbarium is usually a type of tomb with walls lined by niches that hold urns containing the ashes of the dead. Large columbaria were built in Rome between the end of the Republican Era and the Flavio Principality (second half of the first century AD). Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.
  • Roman Frescoes of the The Large Columbarium in Villa Doria Panphilj, Rome. A columbarium is usually a type of tomb with walls lined by niches that hold urns containing the ashes of the dead. Large columbaria were built in Rome between the end of the Republican Era and the Flavio Principality (second half of the first century AD). Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations from Villas of Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations from Villas of Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.
  • Roman fresco wall decoration frangmet from a Villa alongside the Tiber, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of Viridarium L of the Villa Farnesia, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> <br /> Rooms B and D, clearly bedrooms (cubicula), were symmetrically arranged and projected farther forward than the large room C (the triclinium). They opened onto a rectangular unroofed space that must have been a garden (viridarium). This was a genuine hortus conclusus (enclosed garden). The walls that surrounded the real garden were decorated with a painted garden, like an extension of the real one. The south wall was decorated with the three panels shown here: within dense vegetation there are huts made of reeds, jetting fountains, and a marble seat. The most complete example of this kind of room is the one from the Villa of Livia (on display on this floor of the museum), the prototype for the fashion that spread throughout the Roman world of painting gardens on interior walls and around real garden spaces.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of Viridarium L of the Villa Farnesia, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> <br /> Rooms B and D, clearly bedrooms (cubicula), were symmetrically arranged and projected farther forward than the large room C (the triclinium). They opened onto a rectangular unroofed space that must have been a garden (viridarium). This was a genuine hortus conclusus (enclosed garden). The walls that surrounded the real garden were decorated with a painted garden, like an extension of the real one. The south wall was decorated with the three panels shown here: within dense vegetation there are huts made of reeds, jetting fountains, and a marble seat. The most complete example of this kind of room is the one from the Villa of Livia (on display on this floor of the museum), the prototype for the fashion that spread throughout the Roman world of painting gardens on interior walls and around real garden spaces.
  • Fresco of Venus sitting restored as Roma known as the “Dea Barberini” (“Barberini goddess”), dating from the first quarter of the fourth century. A.D, excavated near to Baptistery of St. John Lateran , Rome Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of Vestibule of a Rome Villa, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> <br /> A large fresco covered the curving wall of the vestibule E 5 was positioned at the entrance of the house onto the street. Vitruvius claims that the vestibulum was a room which was not needed by common people, but which was essential in a house worthy of respect, because it served to welcome guests and the people who came to be received by the owners of the house. The frescoed decoration of this wall, which was entirely detached, shows a division into panels, architectural perspectives and pavilions among which are figures and decorative elements, above a band of skirting. Numerous panels have been detached from the corridor E 3 E 11 which connected all the areas of the house, but it has not been possible to reconstruct the sequence of the walls. Inside the frames, against a white background, different decorative elements are arranged, along with hanging female and male figures, hippogriffs and other fantastical animals, vases, garlands and vegetation.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of Room E9, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano, 130-140AD( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of Room E10 0f La Domus, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano, 130-140AD ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> <br /> The white-ground central panel had a figured decoration, already obliterated by repairs carried out in antiquity. In the squares to the sides of the upper area, swathes of white fabric bordered by green leaves and berries are depicted against a purplish red background. The side walls are decorated in a similar symmetrical way; in the squares there are various decorative elements, a stag in flight with a quiver nearby (perhaps an allusion to the myth of Actaeon who was transformed into a stag by Artemis, or, more simply, to hunting), a small head (gorgoneion) contained between volutes.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of Room E10 0f La Domus, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano, 130-140AD ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.<br /> <br /> The white-ground central panel had a figured decoration, already obliterated by repairs carried out in antiquity. In the squares to the sides of the upper area, swathes of white fabric bordered by green leaves and berries are depicted against a purplish red background. The side walls are decorated in a similar symmetrical way; in the squares there are various decorative elements, a stag in flight with a quiver nearby (perhaps an allusion to the myth of Actaeon who was transformed into a stag by Artemis, or, more simply, to hunting), a small head (gorgoneion) contained between volutes.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of the Balnea Baths, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.
  • Roman fresco wall decorations of the Balnea Baths, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano ( National Roman Museum), Rome, Italy.

Gallery Details

Roman Fresco Painted Interior Decoration Wall Art - National Roman Museum Rome - Pictures & Image

Gallery Description:

Pictures of Roman fresco painted wall interior exhibits of the National Roman Museum Rome.

The interiors of Roman villas were highly decorated with mosaic floors and fresco painted wall art. The styles of the decoration changed with successive generations of Romans from full trompe-l’œil panels depicting gardens disappearing into the distance or painted pillars and marble panels to more restrained sombre colours such as dark burgundies and even black that were divided...
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