THE PAINTINGS OF POMPEII.

Auckland Star, Volume XXII, Issue 247, 17 October 1891, Page 3 (Supplement)

THE PAINTINGS OF POMPEII.

Of all the remarkable things found at Pompeii none are more imporbanb bhan bhe pictures, on account of the light bhey throw on ancient painbing. While many works have come down to us, bhe Greek paintings from the fragility of their nature have perished, and ib is chiefly in bhe Pompeii ruins that we find some tradition of them left. Ab Pompeii every house and every room was decorabed wibh frescoes. The besb of bhese were ab first removed for their preservation to the museum at Porbios, which was incorporabed inbo the Naples Museum early in bhis cenbury. Descripbions can hardly give an idea of the charm of these pictures, of their rich, harmonious colouring, which many arb critics have compared bo Titian ; of the serene, joyous conceptions fof human life, of the grace and dignity of the figures. Stately gods and goddesses, sporting cupids, bacchantes, fauns, centaurs, dolphins, arabesques are multiplied in infinite varieby. Most of the subjects are taken from Greek mybhology, but some represent scenes from the daily life of the Pompoians, and throw much light on their habit 3 and occupations. With few exceptions the subjects aro treated with taste and delicacy. In a civilisation where to the gods themselves were ascribed the passions of mortal men, ib is nob bo be wondered that arb sometimes ministered to the licentious ideas of the day, but those pictures which have been removed from public \ie\v are few compared with those which musb delighb even the severest moralist. To Helbig specially belongs bhe merib of having braced these pictures to their origin. He divides them into two groups —thoso thab havo an idealistic and those thab have a realistic tendency. The former include the mythological subjects and a certain number of scenes from real life, such as female figures in meditation, at their toilet, painting or playing on musical instruments, and frequently in company with Bros. A few of the mythological subjects are dramatic, bub most of bhem bear an idyllic character, representing scenes full of serenity and repose, which the eye dwells on with pleasure.—' Edinburgh Review.'