Pompeiian frescoes on display

A series of Pompeii frescoes that came to light during the building of a motorway have gone on display in Rome after two years of restoration.

The painted panels once adorned a substantial palace, thought to have been a luxury hotel, in the southern suburbs of Pompeii, which was overwhelmed by an eruption of Vesuvius in AD79. They were removed for conservation from the site of the motorway under construction between Naples and Salerno.

The restored frescoes have been unveiled at the newly completed Rome Auditorium, or concert hall. In March they will go on permanent display at the Naples Archaeological Museum. . .

Antonio De Simone, the archaeologist who led the motorway excavations, said that the building in which the frescoes had been found had stood 600 metres outside the city walls. It had probably been a restaurant and country hotel, complete with thermal baths. The frescoes had decorated the main triclinium, or dining room. Professor De Simone said that while the frescoes had been rescued, the ruins of the hotel had been reburied so that work on the motorway could continue.

Posted by David on January 18, 2003 6:10 PM