Pompeii, the mask of Pappus found in the villa of Poppea

The hall of the Mask and the Peacock of the Villa di Poppeareveals its real dimensions and decorative riches. The first data from the investigations of excavation in progress at Oplontis-Torre Annunziata they were published in the Pompeii e-journal. The intervention of archaeologists on the patrician domus that perhaps has hosted Nero’s wife The living room is of particular interest, one of the most refined rooms of the villa, decorated in the 2nd style.

From the excavation, recently started to clarify aspects relating to the development of the western sector of the villa that runs along the urban stretch of Via dei sepolcri and resolve critical conservation issues, the first new glimpses of refined frescoes emerge, including lively figures of peacocks and masks. Furthermore, the intervention will actually allow the creation of a connection between the villa and theneighboring Spolettificio Borbonico where, in the coming years, museum exhibition spaces, warehouses and additional services will be created.

The excavations will reveal new frescoes

“Despite the traces present and the interpretative efforts made at the time of the first excavationsthe real trend of this environment and those nearby until today retained many uncertainties that the current excavation intervention will be able to clarify, as well as bringing to light new portions decorated with extraordinary details and colours, of which we can already admire some previews“, explains the director of the Pompeii Archaeological Park, Gabriel Zuchtriegel.

The figure of a peacock and old Pappus

Among the new findings of particular importance, one intact figure of a peacock, mirroring the male specimen found on the southern portion of the same wall, and some fragments with the depiction of a stage mask attributable to a character from the Atellan Comedy, unlike others present in the environment attributable to the Tragedy. This is Pappus, a doting old man who tries to act young but who regularly ends up being mocked and laughed at.

With the cast technique the trees of Pompeii return

Some fresco fragments also emerged depicting part of a golden tripod, inscribed in an oculus (circle), in the same way as the depiction in the center of another wall, where instead a bronze tripod is represented.
Thanks to the cast technique, the excavation also yielded results the footprints of trees that adorned the gardenin an original position and inserted in a precise ornamental scheme, which doubled the colonnade of the southern portico, recalling schemes documented in the Pompeian domus and on the same site as Oplontis. It is possible that the tree species present in this environment were similar to those identified by archaeobotanical analyzes carried out in the past in adjacent environments such as the olive tree.

The excavation identified four new environments

The excavation also led to the identification of four new environments in addition to the 99 already knownincluding an apsidal room which is probably part of the spa sector. Interesting is the discovery of an ancient stretch of riverbed of a seasonal stream, which flowed precisely in correspondence with the route of Via dei Sepolcri, probably formed after the eruption of 1631which eroded part of the deposits from the 79 AD eruption, offering a clearer understanding of the landscape surrounding.

The restoration of two cubicles is underway

“These first results deliver new and promising research perspectives for the knowledge of the plan of the villa – underlines the director – and for the study of the interactions between human settlement and natural environment in the long term”. At the same time as the excavation intervention, the restoration of the decorative systems of two small and precious roomsoriginally intended as a rest area, called cubicula, which overlook the south-western area of ​​the Villa, right near the area of ​​the other construction site.

Their rich decoration, consisting of stuccos, frescoed walls, painted vaults and floor mosaics of extraordinary beauty, which reveals, like the other rooms of the Villa, a very high technical ability on the part of the executors of the time, and a varied palette of pigments, which also includes Egyptian blue. The objective of the intervention is to recover full readabilityof the painted decoration and mosaics, lost over time due to the degradation processes of the original materials and thealteration of the materials used in previous restoration interventions.

Environment decorated with fake marble and fantastic architecture

The first room is decorated with 2nd style frescoes representing fake marble and fantastic architecture; above, the vaults are decorated with a coffered motifwhile the lunettes present landscapes. The mosaic flooring is only partially preserved, with black and white tiles with geometric patterns. From a narrow passage you enter a second environment, apparently simplerdecorated in the III style with monochrome backgrounds and floral motifs which originally it must have had a vaulted ceilingof which few traces remain. This second environment, in which several phases of construction can be recognised, some unfinished, probably had to be under renovation at the time of the eruption.

The restoration is coming to an end after a year

Casts of the door and window shutters were made in plaster at the time of the discovery of the rooms.The restoration is coming to an endafter almost a year of work, so far excellent results, bringing the frescoes and floors back to their original splendor, revealing colors and details previously not visible. The completion of the cleaning and removal of the altered materials involves a pictorial retouching which will restore a full readability and enhancement to decorations.