Recent discoveries in Roman painting

[Free Capitalist 0]

A blog has recently published some images from the house of Augustus (first Roman emperor in 30 BC), paintings which were discovered in the 60s and 70s but have been under lock until recent times. The rooms emphasize elegance and simplicity, and strive to convince the viewer that wallks have "disappeared and that they can extraordinary landscapes and architectural vistas in the far distance".

http://eternallycool.net/?p=1245

Keep in mind, as you gaze on these images, that they're actually cold, hard walls, without modern amenities -- so great is the mastery which makes them come alive.

If you're interested check out another blog entry from the same site:

http://eternallycool.net/?p=1054

There you'll find paintings like the following:

which Raphael used made a pilgrimage to Rome for, and studied, producing a direct link between ancient Rome and Renaissance art. Let me remind you again that that leg, exposed from beneath beautiful drapery, is 2,000 years old.

[CICEROSC 0]

Thanks very much for posting these links. The photos and the site linked are fascinating.

[Free Capitalist 0]

Some additional Roman paintings have come to light on the BBC website, from a museum collection that is now making rounds around Europe:

Theseus

Discovered in mid-18th century near Pompeii, recovered in an almost pristine condition and is "compared to the paintings of the Renaissance master Raphael".

Io and Argus

Women of Pompeii

[B. Royce 0]

How light and fresh all these are! Thanks, FC.

[JRoberts 0]

Amazing-beautiful. Thank you so much for showing these .

[Nicolaus Nemeth 0]

Thank you Free Capitalist.

I'm currently finishing a course in art history on the Renaissance. After seeing Roman paintings one can very much see the connexion between the ancient and the Renaissance.

[Free Capitalist 0]

This doesn't entirely fit under painting, I don't know, but these friezes were unknown to me, and I thought it could be interesting to post them here. These are the so-called Cancelleria Reliefs (or Anaglypha Traiani), discovered from 1938 to 1939, but still relatively unknown even today.

http://www.rome101.com/Cancelleria/

Everyone always hearkens back to Greek friezes for true masterpieces, but these seem to me just as impressive.

The expression in this image, in particular, I thought might be appealing to every member on this Forum:

[Betsy Speicher 0]

These are the so-called Cancelleria Reliefs (or Anaglypha Traiani), discovered from 1938 to 1939, but still relatively unknown even today.

Interestingly, the figure in the center with the shield is a female warrior.

[Betsy Speicher 0]

These are the so-called Cancelleria Reliefs (or Anaglypha Traiani), discovered from 1938 to 1939, but still relatively unknown even today.

Interestingly, the figure in the center with the shield is a female warrior.

According to the web site, That's Minerva.

[Free Capitalist 0]

Right, Minerva, aka Athena, the goddess of wisdom (and thus goddess of wise war, waged on just principles).

But whatever she is, isn't she beautiful?

[Free Capitalist 0]

Some more examples that I came upon:

Another good one:

One might think that this next one was executed by Michelangelo:

[KurtColville 0]

Thanks for posting this. I'm just in awe.