![]() Antichnoe iskusstvo iz muzeia Metropoliten, Soedinennye Shtaty Ameriki: Katalog vystavki. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. A Guide to the Collections, Part 1: Ancient and Oriental Art, 2nd edn. Burnished to a high polish, these walls must have appeared magical indeed when illuminated by lamps at night. Tiny landscape vignettes float like islands in the middle of this blackness. The black walls behind appear at once to be flat and to dissolve into limitless space. This architectural scheme creates almost no sense of depth or volume. ![]() On the back wall tiny swans, the bird of Apollo, patron god of Augustus, perch improbably on threadlike spirals, and yellow panels with Egyptianizing motifs must have brought to mind the recent annexation of Egypt after the death of Cleopatra in 30 B.C. They were embellished with jewel-like decorations. There almost weightless columns support pavilions, candelabra, tripods, and a narrow cornice that runs around the room. A low red dado serves as the base from which a skeleton of thin white columns appears to rise against a black background. The theme is a playful rendition of architectural motif. This ambiguous and sophisticated decoration is a masterpiece of the so-called third style of Roman wall painting, which flourished during the reign of Augustus. The source of light was a wide doorway giving onto a terrace or promenade. The so-called Black Room was one of a sequence of bedrooms facing south toward the downward slope of the mountain and the sea. Painted by artists working for the imperial household, they are among the finest existing examples of Roman wall painting. The frescoes must have been painted during renovations begun at the time. and his son, Agrippa Postumus became the villa's proprietor in 11 B.C. ![]() The Metropolitan Museum acquired sections from three rooms and the Archaeological Museum at Naples received the rest. Wall decorations that still survived in four bedrooms were removed. The villa was partially excavated between 19 after its accidental discovery during work on a railway. It stood overlooking the Bay of Naples from a spot near the modern town of Boscotrecase. One of the most sumptuous must have been the villa built by Agrippa, friend of the emperor Augustus and husband of his daughter, Julia. Many private summer villas were located along the coast near Naples.
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