Wall painting from Room F of the Villa of P. Fannius Synistor at Boscoreale
This section of the fresco from Room F of the Villa of P. Fannius Synistor of Boscoreale depicts a wall and a floor with a column. It features a silhouette of a grape-vine leaf.
The room to which this once belonged was a dressing room for the summer triclinium (dining room), square with sides of just over three meters. It was at the end of corridor 23 with its entrance opposite that of the summer triclinium G. It was an almost square room, with walls of around three meters, and was also decorated in a simple way that imitated the Corinthian room. The decoration here was of marble pilasters with panels inlaid with yellow Venetian marble. Behind them was a red granite podium with green marble shelf. Above this were Corinthian columns, which together with the pilasters went up to the lintel and the ceiling.
What's the meaning of the silhouette of the grape leaf? To me, this is clearly a reference to Dionysus-Bacchus, who is frequently part of the designs of a triclinium. In the dressing room for the triclinium, perhaps it was a reminder that wine was forthcoming?
Roman, Late Republican, ca. 50-40 BCE.
Met Museum, New York (03.14.11)
Wall painting from Room F of the Villa of P. Fannius Synistor at Boscoreale
This section of the fresco from Room F of the Villa of P. Fannius Synistor of Boscoreale depicts a wall and a floor with a column. It features a silhouette of a grape-vine leaf.
The room to which this once belonged was a dressing room for the summer triclinium (dining room), square with sides of just over three meters. It was at the end of corridor 23 with its entrance opposite that of the summer triclinium G. It was an almost square room, with walls of around three meters, and was also decorated in a simple way that imitated the Corinthian room. The decoration here was of marble pilasters with panels inlaid with yellow Venetian marble. Behind them was a red granite podium with green marble shelf. Above this were Corinthian columns, which together with the pilasters went up to the lintel and the ceiling.
What's the meaning of the silhouette of the grape leaf? To me, this is clearly a reference to Dionysus-Bacchus, who is frequently part of the designs of a triclinium. In the dressing room for the triclinium, perhaps it was a reminder that wine was forthcoming?
Roman, Late Republican, ca. 50-40 BCE.
Met Museum, New York (03.14.11)