Frescos from a Roman Villa

John and I like  to visit the National Museum of Rome. We always find it inspiring. 

 This time my eye was caught by some fabulous frescoes from an Augustan villa (27 BC-14 AD). They were found on the grounds of Renaissance Villa Farnesina in Trastevere in 1879 and installed here in  2010

The loose images of pastoral scenes and travellers in landscapes reminded me

 of Petronius' Satyricon and similar ancient writings

and yet have a distinctive "modern" look to them. The images were originally painted on the walls of corridors that connected bedchambers in the villa.

The misty images make my imagination

create stories to connect the action -

whether it be of sea battles 

scenes of celebration and dance

or faded townscapes.

I also loved the brilliantly coloured panels on black backgrounds for the triclinium (dining room)

even when the images were blurred by torch soot. All was magic.