Painting Pompeii

Painters, Practices, and Organization

By (author) Francesca Bologna

Book cover: Painting Pompeii

Extent: 120, 2024 pages

Publisher: Brepols Publishers

Subjects: Art & Art History, Classical Studies, Mediterranean Archaeology

Series: Studies in Classical Archaeology

Series volume number: 14

Language: English

Paperback (Published)

(August 2024)

ISBN: 9782503611198

Price: $107.00

In stock

This book looks beyond the bright colours and imaginative forms of Roman wall paintings, investigating the materials, gestures, and decisions involved in their making.


In the Roman world, wall paintings were one of the most pervasive art forms, adorning buildings of all levels, from public spaces and elite houses to far more modest dwellings. Yet despite the very visual nature of their work, Roman painters have remained largely invisible to history. This book attempts to rectify this situation, by shifting the focus from the paintings themselves to the people who realized them, looking beyond the bright colours and imaginative forms to investigate the materials, production practices, and choices underpinning artistic decisions. Taking Pompeii as its starting point, this volume reconstructs what it meant to paint for a living, and asks if it was actually possible to make a living as a painter in the Roman world. Wall paintings are investigated stylistically but also from an ethnological and economic point of view. Broader comparisons across time and space, combined with a quantitative analysis of the labour involved in making wall paintings, allow the author to assess this art form as an economically-embedded practice. Through this unique approach, the volume exposes the social and economic forces underlying craft production, and offers new insights into the lived experience of Roman artisans.

  • By (author) Francesca Bologna