Roman+Frescos+and+Wall+Painting

=Roman Frescos and Wall Paintings= toc In Ancient Rome, the Romans had many forms of art; from Roman Portraiture, architecture, sculpture and frescos and wall paintings. Some of the most known art that comes from this period are the depictions in the frescos and wall paintings. In the Ancient Roman times, wall paintings and frescos were a staple in the houses of many of the houses and buildings in places such as Herculaneum and Pompeii. Through time, wear and tear has taken its toll on these paintings, where severe restoration has been needed to keep and maintain the quality of the art.

=Materials and Techniques= The word fresco comes from the Italian word for "fresh", where the artist would paint a scene on a fresh and wet wall of plaster. This gave the paintings somewhat of a glowing effect. Artists used lime plaster as a backing for the artistry. The artist then takes a taut string was pressed into the wet plaster to make a border for the art. Along with the border, the string was used to make lines for the architecture or complex patterns. Sketches then were made in yellow or red, followed by each color that was applied seperately for all of the details. The colors used were red (haematite) and yellow ochre, from natural iron oxides; black, from carbonaceous shale; white, from calcined lime; and blue, from a manufactured frit coloured by copper–calcium silicate imported from Egypt or from the mineral glaucophane (these were expensive, so blue was used sparingly outside Knossos). Green was made by mixing yellow and blue. Opaque or water-diluted paint was applied mainly with the brush, though sponges were occasionally used to dab it on to the wall. White impasto was sometimes applied in dots. In the earlier paintings, backgrounds may be white or red or a combination of both. Sometimes the background was divided into wavy vertical or horizontal zones of color (Minonan). =Styles of Frescos=

Pompeian Style ( 2nd Century BC - Late 1st Century BC) - 4 Styles
The Pompeian Style has 4 sub-categories of styles that it covers.

First Style
The Pompeian or Campainian style was between c. 200 - c. 90 BC, and was named because the artifacts were found in the city of Campanian villas after the destruction of Mount Vesuvius, especially in the cities of Pompeii, Hercelaneum and Stabiae (Painting). This style was used to simulate the marble used in the Hellenistic palaces and public buildings in royal capitals (Roman Painting). The paintings contained narrow friezes at eye-level and the veins of marble were shaped into different kinds of motifs and other figures (painting, Roman).

Second Style
The second style appeared in-between c. 90 - c. 20 BC, and was similar in style to the first style. In this time period, the art became more elaborate with receding planes. The paintings were growing with more rich coloring and new forms, but the style of architecture within the art had stayed the same (painting, Roman). The paintings were such good representations of marble, that it became harder to distinguish between the art and the real thing. These paintings were then bordered by contrasting colors to give it the feel of a relief painting. Using columns, podiums and panels artists were able to give an illusion of depth. However, the illusion of depths are not were not made to make it seem like an illusionistic landscape (Painting). The second style of wall paintings had become more extensive with the shadowing and highlights within the art where there was more architecture depicted in the scenes. These more advanced colorings and styles were to show the splendor of the Hellenistic period. At the end of this second period, the paintings depicted less architecture, and were based more on the idea of fantasy (Roman art, Ancient).

Third Style [[image:DSCN1212.JPG width="280" height="265" align="left" caption="Bacchus and Ariadne, Roman, c. 1-75 AD, Getty Museum, Malibu, CA."]]
The third painting style replaced the illusion of depth type paintings with mural walls that accentuated the wall rather than give you an image past the wall and overall the images in this style period reduced the architectural elements, but also adapted more colors within the picture itself (Roman art, Ancient). In this style, the artist would paint their entire wall one solid color, then they would lay down lines, and a border, similar to having a frame around a picture. Within that frame, the artist would paint a picture, giving it the full effect of a picture within a frame. This style was considered to be elegant and exquisite, while being oppressive (Roman Painting). During this time paintings had a centralist image surrounded by minituristic detail then surrounded by a landscape backcloth (painting, Roman).

[[image:DSCN1221.JPG width="604" height="299" align="right" caption="Wall Fragment with a Meal Preparation, Roman, c. 50-75 AD, Getty Museum, Malibu, CA"]]
The fourth style reintroduces the sense of illusionism within paintings, however, the new style retained some of the same characteristics of the third style. The artist would start with a wall that they have painted one solid color, and from there, place an image of a frame. However, within these frames, there would be landscapes and sub-divisions of art (Roman Painting). The fourth style retained both the central pictures, reintroduced effects of depth and unreal architecture, and yellow became more of a dominant color along with black and red (painting, Roman). In this era of painting the style of the surrounding frame that was painted was now smaller and acquired more of a square format, along with what seemed like tapestries that the painting was hanging off of. In this era, you can also see how the paintings showed scenes from well-known myths (Roman art, Ancient).

Post-Pompeian (Late 1st Century BC - 2nd Century)
The artists of the post-pompeian era adapted some of the earlier artistry, except that the colors were not as rich and defined. The housing at that time were going from houses to apartment style living where artistry became more simplified. Through this time of change, we see a consistency in the representation of culture and erudition with the display of the House of Muses. During this time, wall paintings were considered to be repetitive but we see a development in ceiling and vault paintings as they became more luxurious. Ornamental motifs became more rich in color and had more detail; where these paintings displayed satyrs, shells, animals and foliate scrolls. These devices used were seen all over Italy (Painting).

=How Frescos and Wall Paintings Survived= It was said that it seemed that the Roman art had died with the city of Pompeii after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. However, most of the paintings were found under the lava and the rubble of Pompeii. When the paintings were found, they were found in small fragments that had fallen from the walls and put in piles along with the remains of ceilings and roofs, where much needed extensive restoration (Decorative Arts). During the aftermath of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, there was no evidence of the same style of painting since 79 C.E.(Roman Painting).

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Unknown, Bacchus and Ariadne, Roman, c. 1-75 AD, Getty Museum, Malibu, CA. Unknown, Roman Wall Painting, First Century BC, Metropolitan Museum of New York, NY Unknown, Wall Fragment with Meal Preparation, c. 50-75 AD, Getty Museum, Malibu, CA