Second Pompeean Style Essay

While researching the Pompeian styles of wall painting, I discovered how incredible the Second Pompeian style truly is. There are four Pompeian styles of wall paintings, which have been divided based upon the fundamental differences in the way the artist treated the wall and created space. The first two styles began during the Republican period, and were derived from Greek wall paintings. The First Pompeian style in the second century B.C. was common in many homes. This style was a simple way of decorating as it imitated colored marble on the walls in ones home. Those who could not afford real marble, yet wanted the interior of their home to appear luxurious, used the first style. The Second Pompeian style began shortly after 80 B.C. and remained
Some paintings may strictly exercise realism, representing conditions and experiences as they appear to be in the physical world. While other paintings tend to have more of a focus on idealizing the space, striving to make forms attain perfection, based on cultural values or a mental image. However, in the villa at Boscoreale and the Villa of the Mysteries, both these styles have been successfully applied as one. Realism is displayed in these paintings through accurate use of perspective, the remarkable amount of detail, as well as choice of realistic architecture. The utilization of perspective is what gives this style of wall painting the impression that the viewer is looking out a window. The perspective gives the paintings depth and the sense of dimensionality. This forces the viewer’s eye to move continuously and allows them to forget that they are inside a room within the home. “The views appear to deny the surface of the wall, as one looks out behind a narrow ledge punctuated with painted columns, shaded and highlighted to enhance the three-dimensional effect, and ornamented by a delicate floral design” (Ramage, 63). Additionally, the wall paintings have idealized qualities within their composition. Specifically, looking at the architectural composition from the bedchamber in the villa at Boscoreale, we find a more idealistic representation. “Houses towering one above the other with their balconies, stairways, small temples, and colonnades, hardly corresponds to reality, even in a capital city like Rome, the many-storied apartment blocks of which were notorious” (Hafner, 183). The artist who did this particular work idealized the space, yet still gives the viewer the sense that they are truly looking