Room M of the Villa of P. Fannius Synistor at Boscoreale, buried by the eruption of Vesuvius in A.D. 79, functioned as a bedroom.
The rear wall shows rocky terrain with balustrades and an arbor above, a small cave or grotto sheltering a fountain, and a small figure of Hekate below. In the center of the wall, between two columns, a parapet embellished with a yellow monochrome landscape supports a glass bowl filled with fruit.
The side walls of the room are symmetrical. Each wall is subdivided into four sections by a pilaster that defines the area of the couch and by two ornate columns. The paintings depict enclosed courtyards in which we glimpse the tops of statuary, rotundas, and pylons as well as vegetation. These precincts alternate with townscapes combining colonnaded buildings and projecting terraces.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Cubiculum (bedroom) from the Villa of P. Fannius Synistor at Boscoreale
Period:Late Republic
Date:ca. 50–40 BCE
Culture:Roman
Medium:Fresco
Dimensions:8 ft. 8 1/2 in. × 10 ft. 11 1/2 in. × 19 ft. 1 7/8 in. (265.4 × 334 × 583.9 cm)
Classification:Miscellaneous-Paintings
Credit Line:Rogers Fund, 1903
Accession Number:03.14.13a–g
Excavated at the Villa of P. Fannius Synistor, Boscoreale, about a mile from Pompeii (Cavenaghi 1901, p. 5; Barnabei 1901, pp. 71-81).
1899-1900, frescoes excavated in Pompeii by Vincenzo de Prisco; [until 1903, with Cesare and Ercole Canessa, Naples and Paris]; acquired in 1903, purchased from C. and E. Canessa, Paris.
Barnabei, Felice. 1901. La Villa Pompeiana di P. Fannio Sinistore scoperta presso Boscoreale. pp. 71ff, figs. 17–19, pls. 9–10, Rome: Tipografia della Reale Accademia dei Lincei.
Cavenaghi Luigi. 1901. "I Dipinti di Boscoreale e la loro Tecnica." Rassegna d'Arte, 1. pp. 5 ff.
Mau, August. 1902. "Wandschirm und Bildtraeger in der Wandmalerei." Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archaölogischen Instituts, 17: pp. 190ff., 223ff.
Sambon, Arthur. 1903. Les Fresques de Boscoreale: Catalogue of C. and E. Canessa. pp. 21–26, pls. 8–10, Paris: Galerie Durand-Ruel.
Richter, Gisela M. A. 1906. "The Boscoreale Frescoes." Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1(7): pp. 95ff., fig. 2.
Ernst, Pfuhl. 1923. Malerei und Zeichnung der Griechen, Vol. 2. pp. 868ff, Munich: F. Bruckmann Verlag, Munich.
Richter, Gisela M. A. 1927. Handbook of the Classical Collection. pp. 222–23, fig. 155, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Beyen, Hendrik Gerard. 1927. "Uber ein Fragment einer Wanddekoration mit Stilleben aus Pompeji." Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, 42: pp. 41 n.7, 50, fig. 1.
Curtius, Ludwig. 1929. Die Wandmalerie Pompejis: eine Einfuhrung in ihr Verstandnis. pp. 38, 103, 105, 114, 122, 138, 184, 279, figs. 70–73, Leipzig: E. A. Seemann.
Richter, Gisela M. A. 1930. Handbook of the Classical Collection. pp. 222–23, fig. 155, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
McClees, Helen and Christine Alexander. 1933. The Daily Life of the Greeks and Romans: As Illustrated in the Classical Collections, 5th ed. pp. 25, 27, fig. 29, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
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