Re-evaluating Late Pompeian Wall Painting in the House of the Ephebe

Turnblom, Lynette

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Re-evaluating Late Pompeian Wall Painting in the House of the Ephebe

Turnblom, Lynette

Abstract

The last decades of Pompeii were a time of great change and innovation in the art of Roman wall painting. Due to the earthquake of 62 CE it is possible to locate homes which were painted in these final years. The House of the Ephebe is one such house that was nearly fully redecorated in these pivotal years, and is therefore an excellent resource to study changes occurring in this time. Two aspects of late Pompeiian wall painting which have been largely ignored in scholarship can be seen in this house; they are a glimpse of what was a larger movement within painting at the time. These aspects are an increasing use of monochrome backgrounds, particularly white but also other colors, and the function and importance of subsidiary figures such as floating cupids. While monochrome design palettes and floating cupid figures can be observed in other houses at Pompeii and other spaces in the bay of Naples, there is no location in which these ideas are more clearly and vibrantly seen than in the House of the Ephebe. This thesis will explore the prevalence of white monochrome painted rooms throughout the bay of Naples to suggest that between 62 and 79 CE they became increasingly more common – in total, appearing in over 30 homes at Pompeii. It will also discuss the importance and function of the floating cupid figures. The high preservation level of Room twelve of the House of the Ephebe makes it an unparalleled opportunity to study these figures and their interconnectivity with the mythological scenes with which they are paired. The close study of the interior fresco paintings of this house, which have been neglected otherwise for nearly a century, will be the trigger for a watershed moment in the study of ancient Roman wall painting, opening up new avenues of thinking about painted domestic spaces, particularly the way with which they were conceived by the artists, and the way that the viewer might have interacted with the space.