Exceptional 19th Century Oil on Canvas Painting
The Painting depicts an interior scene in which a woman, half naked and lying on a triclinium wrapped in light cloths, rests to the music of a flute played by another young girl while a third figure waves a fan made of white feathers. The environment is that of a sumptuous Roman residence, where skins of exotic animals, decorated craters, and wall paintings recall the lost cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum.

Size:Art: 29 1/2 x 42 1/4 in. (74.9 x 107.3 cm.)Frame: 34 1/4 x 46 1/4 in. (87 x 117.5 cm.)

The spread throughout Europe, in the mid-eighteenth century, of the news of the first occasional discoveries of the cities buried by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD made a great impression. The excavations soon intensified, and the cities of the Neapolitan plain became the most sought-after of destinations. The frescoes found, with intact colors of great expressiveness, depth, and brightness, revealed a completely new face of the ancient world. Pompeian painting was studied by contemporary painters who incorporated new discoveries into their works. This painting must be read from this perspective, where the red background of the walls becomes the transgressive emblem of sumptuous Pompeian painting.

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