Archaeologists have discovered rare paintings, depicting Helen of Troy and other Greek figures, in the lost Roman city of Pompeii, 2,000 years after the deadly volcanic eruption.
The paintings were revealed Thursday after archaeologists discovered them in a “spectacular dining room” featuring “black walls,” according to a press release from the Pompeii archaeological site.
A notable work of art captured among the frescoes was Helen of Troy, considered by the Greeks to be the most beautiful woman in the world, presenting herself to Paris, Prince of Troy.
Helen, the wife of Menelaus (the king of Sparta), will end up having an affair with Paris which will provoke the famous Trojan War.
The black walls of the room where the frescoes were found were covered with black paint to prevent oil lamps from being visible on the walls, said Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of the Pompeii Archaeological Park.
He added that the paintings on the walls would create the illusion that “the images appear to be moving.”
Frescoes are water-based pigments painted on plaster – widely used in Roman times.
Archaeologists noted that the black-walled dining room had been used for entertaining and other banquet-type events.
“It provided a refined setting for entertaining during convivial moments, whether banquets or conversations, with the clear aim of pursuing an elegant lifestyle, reflected by the size of the space, the presence of frescoes and mosaics dating from the Third Style,” they said. .
Another painting on the dining room walls shows Palm’s daughter Cassandra and Apollo together. The fresco depicts a naked Apollo with a blue garment on his shoulder revealing himself before Cassandra.
Cassandra was a famous fortune teller who was said to have been cursed by Apollo because she refused to give herself to him.
The lost city of Pompeii, now an archaeological site in the southern region of Italy, was used as a vacation spot by Roman high society until the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius buried it entirely in ashes in 79 AD.
Pompeii lay buried under volcanic rubble for over a millennium until the ruins of this catastrophic event were rediscovered in the late 16th century by architect Domenico Fontana.
The frescoes are just the latest discovery around the historic site of Pompeii.
Italian archaeologists venturing to Pompeii discovered another 2,000-year-old painting in June 2023 that resembled a modern-day pizza.
The fresco was carved from volcanic ash in the Regio IX section of the Pompeii Archaeological Park.
Excluded as a modern food that many Americans enjoy eating, the flatbread-shaped figure painting has been theorized as a possible ancestor of pizza.
New York Post
