Pompeii Sites

NATIONAL LANDSCAPE DAY 2019 – 14TH MARCH 2019
2019-03-14 08:00 - 17:00 (Europe/Rome) | Pompeii, Pompei, 8050, Italia
For National Landscape Day 2019, set for the 14th March 2019, the Archaeological Park of Pompeii will participate in the event, promoted by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities, with numerous initiatives:
Excavations of Pompeii
Several wall paintings which depict landscapes will be focused on, with the distribution of an illustrated booklet. These include the frescoes of the garden in the House of the Ceii (I 6, 15), which was recently reopened to the public, where a vast landscape is depicted, showing beasts hunting animals in a natural environment, but in particular two frescoes on the side walls of the garden which depict Egyptian landscapes. In the garden of the nearby House of the Ephebe (I 7, 10. 19), the masonry bed of the outdoor dining room features a long scene decorated with another Egyptian landscape.
The House of the Pygmies (IX 5, 9) will, exceptionally, also be open to the public on this day, where another fresco with an Egyptian landscape is preserved, populated by certain characters (dwarfs or pygmies) who are depicted at a sacred place on the banks of the River Nile.
The examples considered demonstrate the spread to Pompeii of the fashion of depicting exotic places on walls, populated by foreign characters taking part in unusual activities and superstitious rites, with unusual or unknown animals.
Excavations of Oplontis
Taking centre stage will be the large wall fresco of Triclinium 15, where a sweeping sacred landscape – the courtyard of a sanctuary dedicated to the god Apollo, as demonstrated by the large tripod which rises in the centre of the wall – is depicted. The two small panel paintings that appear on the right and left of the wall, which are referred to with the Greek term pinakes, and which depict two foreshortened sea views, are veritable landscapes within a landscape.
At 10 o’clock and at 12, there will be a talk given by a specialist from the Park, who will speak about the Villa of Poppaea and the indicated fresco.
Excavations of Stabiae
Here the frescoes of Villa San Marco which depict landscapes, and which appear both in the sections with trees which line the walls of the villa and in the small paintings which adorn it, will be focused on.
At 10 o’clock and at 12, there will be a talk given by specialists from the Park, who will speak about Villa San Marco with particular reference to the indicated frescoes.
Antiquarium of Boscoreale
Two frescoes which are normally kept in storage will be presented to the public at the Antiquarium. The first, which comes from an illegal excavation which took place in the Vesuvian area, presents two landscapes depicted using an unusual painting technique – monochromy – which in this case was created using various shades of green.
On the other hand, the second fresco depicts a landscape connected to a scene from a famous Greek myth, which is frequently represented in Pompeian painting: the young hunter Narcissus, seated on a rock in a forest, is reflected in a pond, and falls in love with his own reflection.
At 10 o’clock and at 12, there will be a talk given by a specialist from the Park, who will talk about the museum, with particular reference to the indicated frescoes. Download the brochure.
NB. Participation in the events relating to Landscape Day is included in the price of the entrance ticket.
