. Pompeii : its life and art . able forpaintings. Along the edges of the black panels run conventional plantdesigns ; in the middle are paintings symmetrically arranged ina series in which a pair of floating figures alternates with amythological scene enclosed in a painted frame. Among themythological pictures are Ulysses before Penelope, who does notrecognize him, Io guarded by Argus, and Medea plotting the THE MACELLUM 97 murder of her children. The whole arrangement is in excellenttaste, while the execution is careful and delicate. The treatment of the upper part of the wall is especially w
. Pompeii : its life and art . able forpaintings. Along the edges of the black panels run conventional plantdesigns ; in the middle are paintings symmetrically arranged ina series in which a pair of floating figures alternates with amythological scene enclosed in a painted frame. Among themythological pictures are Ulysses before Penelope, who does notrecognize him, Io guarded by Argus, and Medea plotting the THE MACELLUM 97 murder of her children. The whole arrangement is in excellenttaste, while the execution is careful and delicate. The treatment of the upper part of the wall is especially worthyof note. Generally in walls of the fourth style the portionabove the large panels is filled with airy architectural designsupon a white or at least a bright ground. In this instancethe fantastic architectural forms in the spaces between theblack panels are continued upwards to the ceiling, and in themidst of each group a standing figure is painted on a blueground — a girl with utensils for sacrifice, a satyr playing the. Fig. 37.— The Macellum, restored. flute; but the spaces above the panels are completely filled withrepresentations of the things exposed for sale. Unfortunatelyonly a few of these pictures remain. One contains birds, somealive, some killed and dressed; in another, different kinds offish are seen ; and a third presents a variety of vessels in whichj wine and other liquids could be kept. This departure from theusual style of decoration, unique in its way, can be explainedonly as having a direct reference to the purpose of the two small pictures in the black panels of the north entranceCupids take the place of men. The Pompeians were very fondof the representation of Cupids as engaged in human occupa-tions; it gave opportunity for the poetic treatment of everyday H 98 POMPEII life, which was thus carried over into fairyland. So in one ;picture sprightly, winged little figures are celebrating the fes-tival of Vesta, the tutelary divinity of mil
Size: 2071px × 1207px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookpublishernewyorkmacmillan
