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Roman

Fragment of a black wall, 14-37 CE

Now On View

Description

Maker

  • Unknown

Culture

Roman

Title

Fragment of a black wall

Year

14-37 CE

Medium

Fresco and lime painting

Materials/Techniques

Materials

  • tempera

Dimensions

104.1 x 127.6 cm (41 x 50 1/4 inches)

Type

  • Paintings

Credit

Museum Appropriation Fund

Object Number

38.058.2C

Projects & Publications

Publications

Roman Paintings and Mosaics

Catalogue of the Classical Collection

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Ancient Greek and Roman Galleries

Buried by the same volcanic eruption that destroyed Pompeii in 79 CE, this wall painting comes from the domestic quarters of a country farm (villa rustica) on the Bay of Naples. This panel is only a small fragment of the original composition, which would have been painted directly onto the walls of the room. During excavation these walls were cut in pieces, which were then dispersed to various museums; fragments from this same room can also be found in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

In this panel, imaginary architectural elements, like the delicate structure and plantlike column on the left, create a highly ornamental surface that evokes a sense of grandeur. Images associated with the wine god Bacchus, specifically the drinking horn and the veiled basket (liknon) seen in this panel, and the hanging theater masks found on other sections of the wall, were used to evoke a lush, wine-rich environment befitting a Roman banquet. The room that housed this fresco, most likely a dining room (triclinium), thus provided a conspicuous display of the owner’s wealth, culture, and intellect through this dramatic depiction of architecture and myth.

Weiss Ancient Art Gallery

Related

Roman

Black Wall, 14-37 CE

More objects +

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is Fragment of a black wall with the accession number of 38.058.2C. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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