The Painters of Pompeii – in pictures

The Museo Civico Archeologico di Bologna presents The Painters of Pompeii, an exhibition of over 100 rare frescoes, with almost half having never left Naples since they were excavated in the 18th century.

  • The Painters of Pompeii is at Museo Civico Archeologico, Bologna, Italy until March 2023

Roberto Serra

Main image: Installation view, The Painters of Pompeii. Photograph: Roberto Serra

  • The exhibition renews focus on the pictores: artists and craftsmen who created the wall decorations in the houses of Pompeii, Herculaneum and the Vesuvian area
    The exhibition draws a renewed focus on the pictores: artists and craftsmen who created the wall decorations in the houses of Pompeii, Herculaneum and the Vesuvian area.

  • Very little is known about the pictores, and their artworks are often unsigned
    Very little information is known about these makers, with their artworks widely baring no signature.

  • Since revealed by the Bourbon excavations, the artefacts act as valuable pictorial testimonies of Vesuvian life
    Since revealed by the Bourbon excavations, the artifacts they left behind act as valuable pictorial testimonies of Vesuvian life and its organisation.

  • The exhibition seeks to contextualise the pictores’ role while highlighting their techniques, tools, colours and models. Through the wealth of images preserved after the eruption in AD79 it is possible to discern the tastes and values of various clients
    The exhibition seeks to contextualise the pictores’ role whilst highlighting their techniques, tools, colours, and models. Through the wealth of images preserved after the eruption in 79 AD it is possible to discern the tastes and values of various clients

  • Masterpieces from various domus (ancient Roman dwellings famous for the beautiful wall decorations from which they often take their name) are on show in Bologna
    Masterpieces from various domus (ancient Roman dwellings famous for the beautiful wall decorations from which they often take their name) are on show in Bologna

  • The exhibition will showcase works from Pompeii’s The House of the Tragic Poet and The House of Punished Love, as well as Boscoreale’s The Villa of Fannio Sinistore and Herculaneum’s The Villa of the Papyri
    Th exhibition will showcase works from Pompeii’s The House of the Tragic Poet, and The House of Punished Love, as well as Boscoreale’s The Villa of Fannio Sinistore and Herculaneum’s The Villa of the Papyri.

  • Visitors will gain insight into a wide selection of the most popular compositional schemes across the different periods of Roman art, observing how some artists were able to give an original vision of decorative models, which was continuously varied and updated in line with fashions and styles
    Fresco depicting two figures

  • Subjects include lively depictions of guests being welcomed, sophisticated images of landscapes, gardens and architecture, as well as recreations of mythical scenes
    Subjects span lively depictions of guests being welcomed, refined images of landscapes, gardens and architecture, as well as recreations of mythical scenes.

  • The exhibition will showcase the original technical tools found from the Pompeian excavations, which painters used for designing and executing their works, as well as items placed by the Romans inside the rooms
    The exhibition will additionally showcase the original technical tools found from the Pompeian excavations which painters used for designing and executing their works, as well as items placed by the Romans inside the rooms.

  • Technical tools include cups that are still filled with colours from 2,000 years ago, squares, compasses, plumb lines and preparatory drawings
    Technical tools include cups that are still filled with colours from two thousand years ago, squares, compasses, plumb lines and preparatory drawings.

  • Decorative and functional objects are also depicted in the frescoes exhibited, with artistic representations of tricliniums (a Roman couch extending around three sides of a table), oil lamps, jugs and vases in conversation with the preserved ancient artefacts on display
    Decorative and functional objects are also depicted in the frescoes exhibited, with artistic representations of tricliniums (a Roman couch extending around three sides of a table), oil lamps, jugs and vases in conversation with the preserved ancient artefacts on display.

  • These elements aid in the reconstruction of Pompeian rooms, such as those of the House of Jason and the large spectacular frescoes with stucco reliefs in the House of Meleager, as the exhibition is staged through the eyes of the pictores who would be adjusting their paintings to the actual context they were working in
    Decorative and functional objects are depicted in the frescoes exhibited, with artistic representations of tricliniums (a Roman couch extending around three sides of a table), oil lamps, jugs and vases in conversation with the preserved ancient artefacts on display.

  • With many works positioned and lit to reflect their placement in their original dwellings, the setup illustrates an artwork’s relation to its environment as a result of carefully considered messaging
    With many works positioned and lit to reflect their placement in their original dwellings, the setup illustrates an artwork’s relation to its environment as a result of carefully considered messaging.

  • In the words of exhibition curator Mario Grimaldi: ‘If classical Grecian painters were deemed “property of the universe” by Pliny the Elder, their Roman pictore contemporaries were skilled craftsmen. Painting was relegated to the work of freedmen, slaves, women and people incapable of political and military life.’
    Roman fresco
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