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THE ROMAN EMPIRE GARDNER CHAPTER 10-2 PP. 244-253

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POMPEII AND THE CITIES OF VESUVIUS August 24, 79 CE -> Mount Vesuvius erupts -> many prosperous towns around the Bay of Naples buried in one day -> most famous city was Pompeii Ruins undisturbed for 1700 years -> first excavated in the 18 th century -> major event for archaeologists and art historians

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FORUM FORUM = the center of civic life in any Roman town -> public square Located at the center of the town North end -> Temple of Jupiter/Capitolium -> sits at north of Forum -> unlike Greek temple it does not stand isolated Porticoes lined the forum BASILICA -> at the southwest corner of the forum -> housed the law court of Pompeii -> long and narrow with 2 stories of internal columns -> central nave and flanking aisles

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AMPHITHEATER Pompeiis amphitheater is the oldest know -> 70 BCE Could seat 20,000 -> seating was assigned by rank -> social hierarchy Amphitheater = double theater -> resembles two Greek theaters put together Artificial earthen mound surrounded and supported by giant retaining wall that holds up the earthen mound and stone seats -> barrel vaults form tunnels that lead to the arena

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HOUSE OF THE VETII Atrium of the House of the Vetii -> 62 BCE Roman townhouse with central atrium with impluvium with open roof above -> bedrooms/cubicula opened onto the atrium Peristyle garden at the back with mural paintings

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PAINTING Houses and villas around Vesuvius provide best record of interior decoration in the ancient world Custom painted murals in nearly every room True frescoes The various mural painting schemes are dived into 4 Pompeian Styles

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THE ROMAN HOUSE Patron-client relationships was a key element of Roman society -> status of a patron depended on size of his clientele DOMUS = house FAUCES = entryway ATRIUM IMPLUVIUM CUBICULUM = bedrooms TABLINUM = home office TRICLINIUM = kitchen PERISTYLE = columns surrounding small enclosed garden

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FIRST STYLE First Style wall painting in the fauces of the Samnite House, Herculaneum, Italy, late 2 nd century BCE First Style -> also called Masonry Style = decorators aim was to imitate costly marble panels using painted stucco relief

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SECOND STYLE Second Style wall painting, detail of tholos from cubiculum M of the Villa at Boscoreale, 50-40 BCE Second Style is antithesis of First Style Painters wanted to dissolve a rooms confining walls and replace them with the illusion of an imaginary three-dimensional world Illusionism

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VILLA OF THE MYSTERIES Dionysiac mystery frieze, Second Style wall paintings in room 5 of the Villa of Mysteries, Pompeii, Italy, 60-50 BCE, fresco, frieze 54 Chamber used to celebrate in private the rites of Dionysos -> precise nature of Dionysiac rites unknown Imaginary 3 dimensional world on the walls -> mortals interacting with mythological figures Frieze is framed by painted panels imitating wall w/a shallow ledge on which the actors move around the room

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VILLA AT BOSCOREALE Second Style wall painting in cubiculum of the Villa at Boscoreale, 50-40 BCE All around the room are vistas of Italian towns, marble temples, and colonnaded courtyards Use of linear perspective -> all receding lines in a composition converge on a single point along the paintings central axis to convey depth and distance

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VILLA OF LIVIA, PRIMAPORTA Gardenscape, Second Style wall paintings, from the Villa of Livia, Primaporta, Italy, ca. 30-20 BCE, fresco The ultimate expression of a Second Style picture window wall To suggest recession, the painter used atmospheric perspective = intentionally blurring the most distant forms

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THIRD STYLE Detail of Third Style wall painting from the Villa at Boscotrecase, 10 BCE, frsco Third Style -> reasserts the primacy of the wall surface -> does not seek to create 3-D world -> does not imitate a marble wall Walls are decorated with delicate linear fantasies sketched on predominantly monochromatic (one-color) bacgrounds

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VILLA AT BOSCOTRECASE Third Style wall painting Landscapes and mythological scenes appear in frames, like modern canvas painting hung on walls

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FOURTH STYLE Fourth Style wall paintings from the Domus Aurea of Nero, Rome, 64- 68 CE Creamy white walls of Neros Golden House display a kinship w/the Third Style but views through the walls revealing irrational architectural vista characterize the new Fourth Style

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IXION ROOM Fourth Style walls paintings in the Ixion Room of the House of the Vetii in Pompeii, 70-79 CE Garishly colored, crowded and confused compositions with a mixture of architectural views, framed mythological panel paintings, and First and Third Style motifs Like a small private art gallery with paintings decorating the walls

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WALL MOSAICS In Roman times mosaics move from the floors onto walls and even ceilings Neptune and Amphitrite, wall mosaic at Herculaneum, 62-79 CE Sea deities overlooking an elaborate fountain

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PRIVATE PORTRAITS Portrait of a husband and wife, wall painting from a Pompeian house, 70-79 CE Man holds scroll, woman holds stylus and writing tablet -> thoughtful and finely educated Like a wedding photo Realistic portraiture

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STILL LIFE PAINTING Still life with peaches, detail from a 4 th Style wall painting from Herculaneum, 62-79 CE, fresco Roman interest in illusionism -> attention on the play of light and shadow on different shapes and textures