the mural painting (FIG. 10-14) of the brawl in the amphitheater of
Pompeii. Given the Roman custom of keeping imaginesof illustrious
ancestors in atriums, it is not surprising that painted portraits also
appear in Pompeian houses. The portrait of a husband and wife il-
lustrated here (FIG. 10-25) originally formed part of a Fourth Style
wall of an exedra,or recessed area, opening onto the atrium of a
Pompeian house. The man holds a scroll and the woman a stylus
(writing instrument) and a wax writing tablet, standard attributes in
Roman marriage portraits. They suggest the fine education of those
depicted—even if, as was sometimes true, the individuals were une-
ducated or even illiterate. Such portraits were thus the Roman
equivalent of modern wedding photographs of the bride and groom
posing in rented formal garments that they never wore before or af-
terward (see “Role Playing in Roman Portraiture,” page 254). In con-
trast, the heads are not standard types but sensitive studies of the
couple’s individual faces. This is another instance of a realistic por-
trait placed on a conventional figure type (compare FIG. 10-8), a re-
curring phenomenon in Roman portraiture.
STILL-LIFE PAINTING The Roman interest in recording the
unique appearance of individual people extended to everyday ob-
jects. This explains the frequent inclusion ofstill-lifepaintings (rep-
resentations of inanimate objects, artfully arranged) in the mural
schemes of the Second, Third, and Fourth Styles. A still life with
peaches and a carafe (FIG. 10-26), a detail of a painted wall from
Herculaneum, demonstrates that Roman painters sought to create
illusionistic effects when depicting small objects as well as buildings
and landscapes. The artist paid as much attention to shadows and
highlights on the fruit, the stem and leaves, and the glass jar as to the
objects themselves. Art historians have not found evidence of paint-
ings comparable to these Roman studies of food and other inani-
mate objects until the Dutch still lifes of the 17th and 18th centuries
(FIGS. 25-22and 25-23).10-24Neptune and Amphitrite, wall mosaic in the summer triclin-
ium of the House of Neptune and Amphitrite, Herculaneum, Italy,
ca. 62–79 ce.
In the ancient world, mosaics were usually confined to floors, but this
example depicting Neptune and Amphitrite decorates the wall of a
private house. The sea deities fittingly overlook an elaborate fountain.10-25Portrait of a husband and wife, wall painting from House
VII,2,6, Pompeii, Italy, ca. 70–79 ce.Fresco, 1 11 1 81 – 2 .Museo
Archeologico Nazionale, Naples.
This husband and wife wished to present themselves to their guests
as thoughtful and well-read. The portraits are individualized likenesses,
but the poses and attributes they hold are standard types.10-26Still life with peaches, detail of a Fourth Style wall painting,
from Herculaneum, Italy, ca. 62–79 ce.Fresco, 1 2 1 11 – 2 . Museo
Archeologico Nazionale, Naples.
The Roman interest in illusionism explains the popularity of still-life
paintings. This painter paid scrupulous attention to the play of light
and shadow on different shapes and textures.Pompeii and the Cities of Vesuvius 2531 in.1 in.10-25AWoman
with stylus,
Pompeii,
ca. 55–70 CE.
10-25B
Menander,
House of the
Menander,
Pompeii,
ca. 62–79 CE.