New frescoes found at Pompeii, buried by volcano | EUROtoday

The partitions of the room have been painted black to forestall the smoke from oil lamps being seen, defined Gabriel Zuchtriegel, the director of the Pompeii archaeological park.

“People would meet to dine after sunset; the flickering light of the lamps had the effect of making the images appear to move, especially after a few glasses of good Campanian wine,” he mentioned in the identical assertion Thursday.

The room, with its frescoes and mosaics, was a part of “an elegant lifestyle” of its historical house owners, in line with the location.

The web site at Pompeii incorporates greater than 13,000 rooms throughout 1,070 residential items, the location says, along with public and sacred areas. According to UNESCO, which lists it as a World Heritage web site, Pompeii is “the only archaeological site in the world that provides a complete picture of an ancient Roman city.”

The work lately found included references to figures from the legendary Trojan War between the early Greeks and the folks of Troy in Western Anatolia across the twelfth or thirteenth century B.C., which is featured in historical Greek works such because the Iliad and Homer’s Odyssey, in addition to Roman literature.

The lately found artworks embody an outline of the Greek legendary figures Helen of Troy and Paris, the son of the Trojan king who’s recognized in an inscription by his Greek identify, Alexandros. The photos additionally present Cassandra, a determine from Greek mythology who may predict the longer term, and the god Apollo, who cursed her and left her unable to forestall the seize of Troy.

“The mythological couples provided ideas for conversations about the past and life, only seemingly of a merely romantic nature,” Zuchtriegel mentioned.

“In reality, they refer to the relationship between the individual and fate: Cassandra who can see the future but no one believes her, Apollo who sides with the Trojans against the Greek invaders, but being a god, cannot ensure victory, Helen and Paris who, despite their politically incorrect love affair, are the cause of the war, or perhaps merely a pretext.”

Paintings of mythological figures usually adorned the dwelling and eating rooms of Roman homes, the place they might entertain friends, the location mentioned.

The uncovered room measured round 49 toes lengthy and 20 toes extensive, and opened onto a courtyard with a staircase to the primary flooring, the location mentioned. Building supplies have been saved beneath arches beneath the staircase, the place charcoal drawings of “two pairs of gladiators and what appears to be an enormous stylized phallus” have been discovered.

The banquet room was found as a part of ongoing excavation works within the Regio IX space of the location and a wider challenge to shore up the perimeter between excavated and unexcavated parts of the location.

It is in the identical space as two interconnected homes and a home with a bakery which have already been excavated.

“Pompeii is truly a treasure chest that never ceases to surprise and amaze us because, every time we dig, we find something beautiful and significant,” Italian Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano mentioned, in line with an announcement.

Other latest discoveries in Pompeii embody a jail bakery the place enslaved employees and donkeys have been held collectively, and a fresco that seems to point out an historical precursor to pizza.