DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61617#0533
WALL DECORATION
453
a complete architectural system was developed. This system
differs from that of the fourth style, which is also architectural,
in that it adheres in the main to actual or possible structural
forms, while those of the fourth style are fantastic in their pro-
portions and arrangement.
In this process of development two clearly defined tendencies
become manifest, one affecting the treatment of the upper
division of the wall, the other the elaboration of a characteristic
motive which now first appears, a framework for the principal
painting ; for architectural designs are well adapted for the dis-
play of pictures, and wall paintings now begin to have a promi-
nent place in Pompeian decoration.
The upper division tends more and more to be represented as
an open space, behind the plane of projection in which the main
part appears. Thus in Plate XI we see on either side a silver
vase with fruits and vine leaves, standing on the cornice of the
main wall, in the open. Often the upper space is painted blue,
as if one caught a glimpse of the sky above the wall; sometimes
the outline of a wall further beyond is seen, or columns in the
rear connected with those in front by a decorative framework;
and not infrequently small architectural designs, in perspective,
rest upon the cornice where the vases are shown in our plate.
But in all the designs of this style, complex as well as simple,
the threefold division of the wall carried over from the first
style is retained ; very often the distinction between the base,
main wall, and upper portion is emphasized by painting them so
that they seem to be in three planes of projection.
The ornamental framework for the painting, consistently with
the architectural character of the decoration as a whole, is
generally conceived as a pavilion projecting from the wall; so
in Plate XI, where we see two columns sustaining a roof, upon
the front of w'hich winged figures stand, each with a hand
extended upward to the entablature of the large pillars at the
sides. The design of the pavilion is suggested by that of a
shrine, such a shrine as the one in the apse of the sanctuary of
the City Lares (Fig. 40).
This conception is here borne out by the subject of the paint-
ing, which represents a statue of Dionysus resting, ivy-crowned,
453
a complete architectural system was developed. This system
differs from that of the fourth style, which is also architectural,
in that it adheres in the main to actual or possible structural
forms, while those of the fourth style are fantastic in their pro-
portions and arrangement.
In this process of development two clearly defined tendencies
become manifest, one affecting the treatment of the upper
division of the wall, the other the elaboration of a characteristic
motive which now first appears, a framework for the principal
painting ; for architectural designs are well adapted for the dis-
play of pictures, and wall paintings now begin to have a promi-
nent place in Pompeian decoration.
The upper division tends more and more to be represented as
an open space, behind the plane of projection in which the main
part appears. Thus in Plate XI we see on either side a silver
vase with fruits and vine leaves, standing on the cornice of the
main wall, in the open. Often the upper space is painted blue,
as if one caught a glimpse of the sky above the wall; sometimes
the outline of a wall further beyond is seen, or columns in the
rear connected with those in front by a decorative framework;
and not infrequently small architectural designs, in perspective,
rest upon the cornice where the vases are shown in our plate.
But in all the designs of this style, complex as well as simple,
the threefold division of the wall carried over from the first
style is retained ; very often the distinction between the base,
main wall, and upper portion is emphasized by painting them so
that they seem to be in three planes of projection.
The ornamental framework for the painting, consistently with
the architectural character of the decoration as a whole, is
generally conceived as a pavilion projecting from the wall; so
in Plate XI, where we see two columns sustaining a roof, upon
the front of w'hich winged figures stand, each with a hand
extended upward to the entablature of the large pillars at the
sides. The design of the pavilion is suggested by that of a
shrine, such a shrine as the one in the apse of the sanctuary of
the City Lares (Fig. 40).
This conception is here borne out by the subject of the paint-
ing, which represents a statue of Dionysus resting, ivy-crowned,