Mazois and Roman Wall Painting

François Mazois, Les Ruines de Pompéi (1724-1738), vol. 3, plate 46

A scholar and an archaeologist, Mazois devoted much time to the study of Pompeian frescoes, hoping they would shed light on the function of the buildings in which they appeared. Here is Mazois’ depiction of a beautiful, now greatly damaged section of the Macellum’s painted walls. As it is typical for Pompeian paintings of the late first century C.E., the wall’s surface has been divided into three parts, featuring large black panels that alternate with brightly colored patterns. The entanglement of lines, pillars and porticoes increase the depth of the whole. More than just an adornment, this fresco is also of great historical interest. Although they misled Mazois in his identification of the Macellum’s function, wall paintings such as this one document Roman artistic practices. At the same time, Mazois’ elegant rendition of this fresco points to the nineteenth-century’s taste for and fascination with Pompeian antiquities.