Jan., 191 2. Antiquities from Boscoreale. 175 



parts, the lower part, with white ground, having the shape of the gable- 

 end of a building crowned by an anthemion in very light yellow; the 

 upper part, with yellow ground, occupying the remainder of the space. 

 The lower part is decorated with pieces of architecture consisting of a 

 large bluish gray rectangular frame, the top of which supports at the 

 corners the end of an Ionic entablature coming from either side. This 

 entablature forms at the outer ends an angle with a similar section 

 which projects into the foreground. The entablature, which is of drab 

 color excepting the frieze, which is purplish, has two brownish yellow 

 anthemia at each end. Beneath the nearer end of the second section 

 and beneath the angle where the sections meet there is an unfluted Ionic 

 column. The columns which are in the foreground rest on the low 

 elevations previously mentioned. The effect produced by the white 

 ground with its decorations is that of a vista. 



Adjoining the upper compartment on either side a broad horizontal 

 band, which is made up of alternate stripes of dark red and light yellow, 

 together with one or more grayish stripes, extends to the edge of the 

 plaster. 



In the axis of both compartments rises a candelabrum of conven- 

 tionalized vegetable form. The shaft is composed of about ten sections 

 interspersed with discs. At the top there is a rayed fan-like concave 

 disc placed vertically. The shaft is yellow with numerous bits of a 

 whitish tint, which serve to indicate where the light falls. The vertical 

 disc has concentric circles of yellow, yellowish white and a dark color. 



The cornice, which is mostly reset, consists of an oblique surface 

 between two perpendicular bands. The uppermost band is plain, 

 though it is doubtful if any of the original surface is preserved; the other 

 two are profiled. 



This fresco shows the influence of the Third Style in the absence of 

 an architectural scheme in the principal design, the Ionic columns of the 

 lower compartment and the painted bands being purely decorative, 

 while the bits of architecture are confined to the upper compartment 

 and have the character of secondary ornament. 1 



Height, to top of cornice, m. 2.10 ( = 6 ft. 10.67 m -)- Width, m. 1.39 (=4 ft. 

 6.72 in.). Width of the three bands of the cornice, m. 0.05, 0.067, 0.03, from the 

 lowest upward. 



Small pieces of plaster are missing between the upper and lower parts and from 

 the lower compartment, especially near the bottom. The upper compartment is 

 now, owing to faulty restoration, set a little farther back than the lower, except on 

 the right edge. The surface is much cracked, and there are many abrasions. 



1 With the anthemia cf . Roux, op. cit. Vol. i. plates 17 and 76. For the candelabrum see ibid, plate 

 36, Zahn, Die schoensten Ornamente, etc. Vol. i. plate 39, Vol. ii, plate 39, and cf. Notitie degli Scavi, 

 1897, p. 393 (Villa in contrada Giuliana): "Nel riquadro centrafe della zona media e un candelabra 

 d'oro, sormontato da una palla, lumeggiato con bianco;" 1899, p. 393 (Villa at Scafati = No. viii. 

 List. p. 154): "decorazione a fondo giallo scompartito da pilastri bianchi, ornati di candelabri con 

 fogliami" (Sogliano). 



