Greco-Roman Painting — 100 B.C.-79 A.D.

Within the Roman houses around Mount Vesuvius, many examples of wall painting have been discovered.  These were classified by a German art historian named August Mau at the end of the 19^th century as First Style, Second Style, Third Style and Fourth Style.  This system remains a useful way to describe the various approaches to painting during the Roman Republic and early Empire. 

Remember that Romans were strong admirers of Greek art.  We know many examples of Greek sculpture (now lost) through Roman marble copies.  Likewise, we know many examples of Greek painting through Roman mosaic and fresco copies. 

First Style (also called the Incrustation Style)

Samnite House, (Middle class house) in Herculaneum, late 2^nd Century B.C.

This example of Roman wall painting was located in the vestibule that led to the atrium.  It made the wall look like it was covered with expensive marble.  Not only that, but it looks like marble from different quarries  throughout the Mediterranean. Thus, this style mimics the taste of the upper classes. But this wall is actually bricks, plaster and paint.  It was done using the technique of true wet fresco.  Sometimes, the plaster was mixed with marble dust so that it looked even more stone when polished.

We have documentary evidence that this kind of wall painting was also done in the Greek world during the late fourth century.  Therefore, the First Style is a clear imitation of Greek taste.

Second Style  (also called the Architectural Style)

Villa of the Mysteries, Pompeii, ca 60-50 B.C.

The Second Style may have Greek origins, but most scholars believe that this approach to wall painting was a Roman innovation. Second Style wall painting was about illusionism.   These artists wanted to de-emphasize the planar quality of the wall and created the illusion of three-dimensional space on a two-dimensional surface.  Note the use of modeling on the bodies of the figures and the drapery.  Also notice that the figures are placed on a narrow ledge of space — like a stage — where life-sized figures act out. 

The predominant religion in Rome, both as the city and the colonized empire, was Paganism, the worship of the Pantheon of Roman gods.  It was expected that Roman citizens would participate in Pagan rituals, sacrifices, and holy days. Early in their history, the Romans were very tolerant of other religions, and there were other sects within the Roman empire — practitioners of magic, mystery cults, etc.

This wall painting at Pompeii in the “Villa of the Mysteries” represents an Initiation Ritual into the Cult of Dionysus (or Bacchus).  Most of the participants are women, and it appears that they are interacting with mythological figures.  In this painting, we seem to see a new ideal of female beauty, with the emphasis on long legs, wide hips, and small breasts.  At the far left is a winged figure with a whip who appears to lash the bare back of a woman who is weeping on the lap another -- it seems to be a stressful ceremony!  It is particularly interesting that there is interaction between figures across the corner of the room.

One interpretation of this painting is that this is a symbolic marriage to Dionysus (or Bacchus) -- one based on the experience of Ariadne.  In a nutshell, here are the highlights of the story of Ariadne and Dionysus:

• King Minos of Crete had a wife who had a passionate love affair with bull, producing a bull-headed monster — the Minotaur —  which was kept in a Labyrinth.  The King’s daughter was Ariadne.  Ariadne’s suitors would be sacrificed to the Minotaur, as were captives from Athens.

• Theseus comes from Athens, determined to kill the Minotaur.  He goes to Crete, where he meets Ariadne.  She falls in love with him.   She also knows that if he enters the Labyrinth, that he will not be able to find his way, and he will die.  So she secretly gives him a ball of twine so that he can kill the Minotaur and then find his way out.

• King Minos discovers what has happened and so Ariadne and Theseus flee to Naxos.    Theseus, however, decides to return to Athens and so abandons Ariadne.

• The story continues with Ariadne’s extreme sadness.  Dionysus (or Bacchus) comes to comfort her and then marries her.  Zeus then makes her immortal, Dionysus gives her a crown, and she becomes a constellation.

In other words, she is a woman who has suffered terribly as a result of her love for a man.  She needed the intervention of a god to once again find happiness.  Dionysus was able to heal her pain.

Villa of Publius Fannius Synistor, Boscoreale, Italy, ca. 50-40 B.C.

This Roman cubiculum from Boscoreale stands reconstructed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (next to the coatroom).  Boscoreale is located near Pompeii.  It is another example of the Second Style with emphasis on illusionistic architectural space and scenic vistas.  The wall painting in this room depicts a cityscape or architectural vista.  

Note there is some use of linear perspective in this example. That is, the lines that are parallel with the lines of sight (orthogonal lines) appear to converge at a vanishing point on the horizon:

 

In art history, it is usually taught that linear perspective was the invention of artists during the Italian Renaissance.  However, it was more likely a revival than a true invention. It seems that the Greeks understood perspective as early as the 5^th century B.C. and used this technique in painting their stage sets.  They called this skenographia or scene painting.  It was not always used consistently, but does appear to have been understood.  In the example from Boscoreale above, note that that some of the orthogonal lines have been highlighted in yellow.  They do generally converge on an areas, but not at a single point.

Villa of Livia, Primaporta, Italy -- Gardenscape, ca. 30-20 B.C.

This is another example of Second Style painting with the entire subject being landscape.  This is one section from a vaulted, partially underground room that was painted on all four sides with landscapes.  These paintings were not divided by pseudo-pilasters, but formed a continuous scene around the entire room.  There is little emphasis on linear perspective, though there is some — i.e. this niche in the fencing.  Instead, the artist relied on aerial perspective to create the illusion of distance.  The foreground is painted in sharper detail than the background.

Third Style (also called the Ornate Style)

Villa of Agrippa Postumus,  Boscotrecase, Italy, ca. 10 B.C.

We will look at one example of Third Style wall painting.  Like the First Style, the wall is emphasized.  In this approach, however, there is no interest in simulating other materials.  Instead, most of the surface is monochromatic. There are some architectural elements, but they are very delicate and have been attenuated to emphasize the wall.  There is also a sacred-ideal landscape, but it is extremely tiny!  The Third Style emphasizes the negative space of the wall design.

Fourth Style (also called the Intricate or Theatrical Style)

Domus Aurea, Golden House of Nero, Rome 64-68 A.D.

Basically, the Fourth Style was a blend of the First, Second, and Third Styles.  We see:

• some faux marble

• some landscape and architectural illusionism

• predominantly solid background with attenuated architectural members and framing elements

The room shown above from the Domus Aurea was actually an imperial commission in Rome (not near Pompeii).  It was executed for Emperor Nero after the Great Fire of Rome in 64 A.D. and before Nero was assassinated in 68 A.D.   Today, the Domus Aurea is an archaeological site that is fairly close to the Roman Colosseum.  Below is a plan of the original site, with no. 16 being the main dining room.

After the Great Fire, the emperor erected his Domus Aurea or Golden House. Nero built palace on part of Rome that had burned The Golden house is described by the Roman biographer Suetonius in the second century A.D.:

The entrance hall was large enough to contain a huge statue [of Nero in the guise of Sol, the sun god], 120 feet high; and the pillared arcade ran for a whole mile.  An enormous pool, like a sea, was surrounded by buildings made to resemble cities, and by a landscape garden consisting of ploughed fields, vineyards, pastures, and woodlands — where every variety of domestic and wild animal roamed about.  Parts of the house were overlaid with gold and studded with precious stones and mother-of-pearl.  All the dining-rooms had ceilings of fretted ivory, the panels of which could slide back and let a rain of flowers, or of perfume from hidden sprinklers, shower upon [Nero’s] guests.  The main dining room was circular, and its roof revolved, day and night, in time with the sky.  Sea water, or sulphur water, was always on tap in the baths.  When the palace had been decorated throughout in this lavish style, Nero dedicated it, and condescended to remark: “Good, now I can at last begin to live like a human being.”

The Fourth Style wall painting shown above is from “Room 78” (one of the smaller rooms above; I'm not positive which one). Nonetheless, notice the used of more delicate and lighter colors, together with the isolated motifs on a white background.  This is the earliest example of a painting style that was also found in Pompeii.

 Ixion Room, House of the Vetii, Pompeii, ca. 70-79 A.D.

Finally, here is an example of the Fourth Style as found in Pompeii.  This room was a triclinium or dining room. Notice that the base was done in faux marble (First Style).  There are panels that display illusionistic paintings and illusionistic architecture (Second Style).  There are also large panels that are mostly solid color, but which display attenuated architectural elements and tiny landscapes (Third Style).