So while students of modern painting need only look in the nearest museum for their quarry, scholars of ancient Roman painting like Bergmann must collect and organize scattered information to understand the art's original appearance and purpose. They are based on Bergmann's knowledge of Roman life and art, on writings by ancient and modern visitors to a site, and on archaeologists' reports. The research is made tangible by modelmaker Victoria I, an artist and former student of Bergmann's at Harvard. Together they've reconstructed the decorative plan in several Pompeiian homes, a luxurious villa at Oplontis, and the Villa Farnesina in Rome. We're missing the whole by studying art in isolation.
Models restore the big picture.
Gazing into one, you can easily imagine attending a dinner party in ancient Pompeii. The room has bright red walls that also bear elaborate architectural and natural images and mythological scenes. As your dinner companions drone on about politics, your mind turns to the complex designs in the mosaic floor and the intricately painted ceiling. In the flickering candlelight, you muse about the connections among the designs and mythological stories in the frescoes and mosaics. Bergmann says models evoke this kind of contemplation by putting painting back into context.