by Elsie Parker

Created on: May 13, 2008

The terrible tragedy that befell Pompeii and Herculanium in 79AD has given art historians a unique opportunity to study Roman wall painting techniques in situ and on a large scale. This snapshot of life cut off abruptly when Vesuvius erupted has enabled them to show how tastes in domestic house decoration was developing over time and to discover how the painters achieved their results.

The wall paintings still visible in the two towns were done using a technique known as fresco, where pigments of colour are added to the fresh plaster, penetrating inwards leaving a lasting and vibrant finish. Secco fresco painting was a technique done on dry plaster using a binding ingredient such as egg to hold pigment to the wall. This was not so durable as painting on wet plaster and was not generally used in Pompeii and Herculanium but was sometimes used to touch up mistakes on wet frescoes as they were difficult to repair once this technique dried out.

The painters had to begin by smoothing out the rough stone walls using a number of layers of lime mortar, chalk or plaster. The basic outline of the design was prepared and the decoration added to the last coat of fresh plaster going from top to bottom and working in phases as the painter had to complete the section before the plaster dried out. Greater resistance to colour fading was due to a transparent film of calcium carbonate which was formed by a reaction between the slaked lime in the plaster and the air. A fine layer of wax was put over the finished work.

The wall paintings can be divided into four basic styles and show how the designs reaching the Campania region were influenced by Greek and Egyptian themes to the latest fashion in Rome.

First Style: 150BCE 80BCE. Known as the Incrustation Style. This style became popular when it became fashionable to paint the inside of houses as well as public buildings. The effect produced was of flat areas of shiny stucco decoration which imitated marble or oak finishes and was achieved by inserting a variety of colours into different partitions marked on the wall. This was mainly used for lower panels and produced a smooth painted surface.

Second Style: 80BCE 14AD. Known as the Architectural Style. This style created the illusion of having an open window looking out onto mythical landscapes. The painters used perspective to create levels of depth often placing columns in foreground with colonnades disappearing into distance. Large paintings between columns depicted mythological,

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