More information on Roman Art & Architecture II;
Wall painting and Houses. 


 
 

First style panel Another First style panel A Second style panel
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A Second style panel A Second Style panel Second style panels in a bedroom
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As your book pointed out, the 1st style using painting to mimic marble and other stones. The Second Style tries to create the illusion of 3-dimensional architectural and open spaces. It was probably inspired by painting done for theater backgrounds. Notice the painted on columns, moldings, doors, windows, pilasters, the cityscapes that appear in the background. 


 

The famous Dionysos painting from 
the Villa of the Mysteries		 Detail of woman whipped
during initiation
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3rd style 3rd style 3rd style 3rd style
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In the 3rd style the more illusionistic effects, such as columns and moldings that mimicked architecture, was replaced with more abstract, purely ornamental presentation of these features, as in second picture and third pictures. Notice the delicate columns in third picture.  Often there are simply  geometric patterns, as in the first picture. The large panels became smaller, often more like small inset pictures, as in the second and fourth walls. Soft blues (as in the third and fourth pictures, or very dark backgrounds (as in 2nd) are also often seen, as opposed to the deep reds of the Second Style. Landscapes are also often seen and emphasized, as in fourth picture. 


 

Layout of the House of Pansa, Pompeii. Look at all the parts of the house. Notice how there 
were shops on the outside, and a vegetable garden in back. 


 
 

Here is a peristyle, the interior colonnade.  Here is an elegant room The Lararium, where
the Lar, the guardian spirit
of a home was venerated. 
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