45§

POMPEII

figures appear either upon projecting portions of the architec-
tural framework, as in Fig. 253, or in the background. They


Fig. 253. —Specimen of wall decoration. Fourth style.

are frequently painted
yellow, suggesting the
gilding applied to an-
cient statues, particu-
larly those of bronze,
and present a striking
contrast to the masses
of strong color in the
large panels and the
brilliant shades of the
architectural designs.
They are in harmony
with the taste of the
period, which, as we
have seen, manifested
a fondness for orna-
mentation in stucco
relief, the effect of
which was heightened
by the free use of color.
The large panels con-
tained paintings of va-
rious sizes, sometimes
copies of masterpieces,
more often a simple
floating figure or a Cu-
pid ; groups are also
found, as Cupid and
Pysche, or a satyr with

a’bacchante. The appearance of a picture worked in tapestry is
given by a border just inside the framework of the panel, as in
several of the landscapes of the wall shown in Plate XII.
The fourth style cannot have been derived from the third.
It is organically related with the second, out of which it was
developed by laying stress on precisely that element, the archi-
tectural, the suppression of which gave rise to the third style