Hello everyone! Look at these lovely wall paintings being reconstructed by The Oplontis Project!
The Oplontis Project goal is to examine these ancient villas, known as Villa A and Villa B, using multidisciplinary methods. One of these methods is looking at these villa’s wall paintings and reconstructing them digitally. Digital reconstructions give a sense of what these magnificent paintings once looked like, and illustrate the dominance they at one time held in a space.
The project is being spearheaded by John R. Clarke and Michael L. Thomas of the University of Texas at Austin. They are working in collaboration with the Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Napoli e Pompe, as well as the King’s Visualization Lab to create 3D models of these spaces.
Their focus of the project is two villas in the Oplontis archeological site, near Pompeii. Both villas, referred to as Villa A and Villa B, were buried by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD. There is still a lot about these villas that is unknown, but The Oplontis Project is making strides in bringing to light information about the villas so that they can once again be understood in all of their glory.
What these particular wall paintings reveal about ancient Romans is an interest in architecture, but also a playfulness that is often overlooked. The painted architecture creates illusionistic spaces that are both inside and outside at the same time. Sometimes working in tandem with the actual forms of the space, such as doorways, these paintings evoke specific senses and emotions. It also reveals a deep contemplation about space and views. What space can be seen from a specific room shapes the form of many villas in ancient Rome. It is interesting then that this is repeated in their wall paintings of fake architectural structures.
It is thanks to scientific and technical advancements that the field of art history has been greatly expanded in the past few decades. These pictures were only able to be created thanks to these advancements which have also allowed for their discoveries to be easily spread to a variety of people around the world. It is amazing to contemplate what technology will allow us to uncover in the near future!
If you would like to read more about this project you can check out their website at, http://www.oplontisproject.org/
All images are the property of Martin Blazeby and the Oplontis Project 2014.