Domus

This is a major study of illusionistic wall painting in the Roman houses of Pompei and Herculaneum, as well as those in Boscoreale, Oplontis, & Rome itself. An essay by Donatella Mazzoleni on the connections between Roman architecture & the programs of illusionistic wall paintings employed in these magnificent structures. Umberto Pappalardo examines the Roman domestic ideal & its realization in wall painting & through other elements of interior decoration. The two essays precede a magnificently illustrated guide to 28 important villas -- among them, the Villa of the Mysteries & the House of the Faun in Pompeii; the Casa di Livia, the Villa della Farnesina, & the Domus Aurea in Rome; the Casa del Gran Portale in Herculaneum; & the Villa of Publius Fannius Synistor in Boscoreale.