Roman Frescoes from Boscoreale

 

Roman Frescoes from Boscoreale is published by the Metropolitan Museum of Art (colloquially known as the Met). This slim volume is a reprint of the Museum’s “Bulletin” from spring 2010.

Boscoreale is the name of a modern town located between Mount Vesuvius and the ancient Roman town Pompeii in the south of Italy.

In AD 79 when Mount Vesuvius erupted, three Roman towns and several Roman villas were buried under a thick layer of volcanic ash and lava. The towns are Herculaneum, Pompeii and Stabiae. The first two towns are shown on the map printed on page 4, while the third is not shown on the map and not mentioned in the text - a clear sign that Stabiae is often ignored or forgotten in modern accounts of this event.

One of the Roman villas buried by the volcano – Villa Boscoreale – was excavated and studied briefly around the year 1900 and then buried again. Before the villa was reburied, several frescoes were removed from the walls. In 1903 they were sold at an auction held in Paris. The result was that frescoes from this villa ended up in eight museums in Europe and one museum in the US (the Met).

In the beginning of the twenty-first century these nine museums joined forces to support a project to use modern technology to create a virtual model of the ancient Roman villa. All frescoes were photographed and the photographs were passed on to King’s Visualisation Lab of King’s College in London.

In the virtual model each fresco is placed in the room and on the wall where it belongs. In other words: for the first time in more than one hundred years these frescoes can be seen in their proper context. The purpose of this publication is to present the results of this project. The book is divided into six sections:

** A preface by Thomas P. Campbell, director of the Met since 2008 = 2 pages

** A general introduction by Stefano de Caro = 6 pages

** New perspectives on the frescoes by Bettina Bergmann = 22 pages

** Conservation of the frescoes by Rudolf Meyer = 14 pages

** Notes with references = 1 page

** Bibliography = 1 page

The text is lavishly illustrated with pictures of the frescoes and pictures of the virtual model. All illustrations are in colour except four photos of the frescoes which were taken in 1900 before they were removed from the walls.

Fig. 2 on page 6 shows the excavation of the Villa della Pisanella, also in Boscoreale, after 1895; fig. 3 on the same page shows the excavation of the Villa of Numerius Popidius Florus, also in Boscoreale, in 1906; fig. 4 on page 7 shows the excavation of Villa Boscoreale ca. 1901. All these old photos are in black-and-white.

The upper floor of the villa was destroyed during the eruption in AD 79, but the ground floor was preserved. A plan of the ground floor is printed on page 12.

The frescoes can be divided into three categories: the first category presents a pattern, for instance fig. 17 on page 15 (room C, by the entrance). The second category presents a garland with flowers, for instance figs. 22-23 on page 17 (the west wall of the peristyle). The third category presents real motives, such as:  

** A table – fig. 26

** Winged guardians – figs. 34-35

** A theatre mask – fig. 51

** Column capitals – fig. 52

** Different buildings – figs. 55-56  

The virtual model is used frequently. There is a total view of the villa seen from above on page 13 and a partial view of the villa seen from above on page 23. In addition, there are horizontal shots of the peristyle and of every room which is decorated with one or more frescoes.

Text and illustrations complement each other very well, with minimal page turning necessary. As you work your way through the text and the relevant illustrations, you will understand the layout and decoration of this villa more and more.

One remarkable motive is the theatre mask found on a fresco in room G (fig. 51).

 

 

Another remarkable motive is the bowl made of transparent glass filled with fruit found on a fresco in room M (fig. 58).

 

 

Both motives are also found in Villa Oplontis at Torre Annunziata, less than two miles west of Pompeii, suggesting a common workshop (page 11).

 

The theatre mask on a fresco in Villa Oplontis

(this motive is not shown in the publication from the Met)

 

 

 The bowl made of transparent glass filled with fruit on a fresco in Villa Oplontis

(this motive is not shown in the publication from the Met)

 

Who was the owner of this villa? A fragment of a bronze vessel found in the villa carries the inscription P FANNI SYNISTORIS S XXXIIII, i.e. ‘this vessel belongs to Publius Fannius Synistor.’ But maybe he was not the owner. A stamp found in the villa carries the inscription L*HER*FLO, i.e. ‘Lucius Herennius Florus.’ It seems more likely that he was the owner of the villa (page 14).

The two long chapters provide different perspectives: the chapter written by Bettina Bergmann gives artistic and historical information about the frescoes, while the chapter written by Rudolf Meyer gives practical and technical information about the frescoes: how they were made by the Romans in antiquity, and how they were restored by curators of the Met in the beginning of the 21^st century.

Roman Frescoes from Boscoreale is a work of art in itself. If you are interested in ancient history, in particular Roman art and architecture, I am sure you will appreciate this slim volume from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

PS. I have only one complaint: when they made a virtual model of the villa, why did they only use it to take photos? Why not use it to produce a DVD, an animated movie, which could take you on a virtual tour through the ancient villa?

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Roman Frescoes from Boscoreale,

Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2010, 48 pages

 

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For more information about the Met, see my blogs:

 

Art of the Classical World

 

Rogues Gallery

 

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