Jan., 191 2. Antiquities from Boscoreale. 181 



the front of the ridgepole to the top of the rear colonnade, behind which 

 it is probably supposed to pass. The third column, which is heavier 

 and perhaps fluted, supports the lower right corner of the roof, and was 

 also probably thought to pass behind the colonnades. 



Whether this pavilion is a second story above the colonnades, or 

 is a separate structure situated farther back in the field, may be doubted. 

 The fact that the colonnades would otherwise be uncovered, favors the 

 former view, but the lack of organic connection and the disproportionate 

 height of the upper structure indicate that the latter interpretation is 

 the more probable. 



The constructions pictured in this fresco are examples of the fantastic 

 and freely imaginative architectural decoration of Mau's Fourth 

 Pompeian Style. The chief elements of the design, however, are 

 doubtless based on experience. 1 



Height, m. 1.80 ( = 5 ft. 10.86 in.). Width, m. 1.975 (=6 ft. 5.75 in.). Thick- 

 ness of plaster, ascertained by boring a small hole in the lower right corner, m. 0.127 

 (=5 in.). 



Plaster to a considerable extent reset. There was a coarse under layer on top 

 of which a finer coating received the paint. Numerous, mostly small, pieces of this 

 outer layer are missing. 



The red ground was applied first. In the structure on the left the yellow hor- 

 izontal band was painted before the columns which it connects; the blue of the ends 

 was put on after the columns, but before the top band and before the vegetable 

 column at the right. In the upper part of the same structure the small legs were 

 probably painted before the circumscribed palmettes; these before the remainder 

 of the band in which they occur. 



The paint is much abraded and faded, especially in the upper part, where little 

 remains except thin mud-colored patches which probably were originally yellow. 



1 An example of trellis work analagous to the upper part of the oblong enclosure may be found in 

 the House of Castor and Pollux at Pompeii, Nicolini, Case e Monumenti, Vol. i, Casa di Castore e Polluce, 

 Plate 3. Besides the upper hoop there are two side hoops on which figures are perched. A circular 

 pavilion with four stages is represented in a Pompeian fresco published by Nicolini, op. cit. Vol. ii. 

 Descrizione Generate, Plate 31. For analogies in details of ornament of the lower story, cf. Roux, 

 Herculanum el Pompii, Vol. I. plates 87 f. and Nicolini. op. cit. Descriz. Gen., plate 12 (circumscribed 

 palmette). Roux, op. cit. Vol. I, plate 41 (double trident). With the ornaments of the frieze of the rear 

 colonnade on the right cf. Roux, op. cit. Vol. I, plate 17 (griffin and dolphin). 



