The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1891-03-24
EDUCATIONAL.
THE PAINTINGS OF PoMPEII.

glimpse of GrecO-ROman life unfOlded
IS II by enchantment in all its details.
ITO the classical scholar it is a vivid il
lustration; to those whose minds are a
blank page on the subject it opens a
new horizon, it imparts a new enthuSi-
asm. Everything at POmpeii is beau
tIful, even the cOmmOnest kitchen
Utens1. The genius of Greece had per-
vaded every industry. OF all the re-
markable things found at Pompeii none
are more important than the pictures,
on account of the light they throw on
ancient paintings. While many mas
terpieces of Greek sculpture and archi-
lecture have come down to US, the
Greek paintings, from the fragility of
their nature, have persisted, and it is
chiefly in the Roman ruins that we find
some tradition of them left. AT POmpeii
every house and every room was deco
rated with freScOeS. The best of these
were at first removed for their preser-
walton to the museum at POrtici, which
was incorporated into the Naples
museum early in this century. Descrip-
tions can hardly give an idea OF the
charm of these pictures, Of their rich,
harmonious cOlOring, which many art
critics have compared to Titan, of the
serene, Joyous conceptions of human
life, of the grace and dignity of the
figures. Stately gods and gOddesses,
sporting cupids, bacchantes, fauns,
c~entaurs, dOiphins, arabesques, are
multiplied in infinite variety. Most OF
the subjects are taken from Greek my
thology; but some represent scenes
from the daily life of the POmpeians,
and throw much light on their habits
and occupations. With few exceptions
the subjects are treated with taste and
delicacy. In a civilization where to
the gods themselves were ascribed the
passions of mortal men, it is not to be
wondered hat art sometimes minis
tered to the licentiOuS ideas of the day,
but those pictures which have been re-
moved from public view are few COM
pared with those which must delight
even the severest mOralist. To Helbig
specially belongs the merit Of having
traced these pictures to their origin.
He divides them into two groups
those that have IN idealiStiC, and those
that have a realistic tendency. The
former include the NEUROLOGICAL sub
jects and a certain number Of scenes
from real life, such as female figures in
meditation, at their toilet painting O.
playing on musical instruments, and
frequently in company with Eros. 4
IL " CIIC IL O11O1OSNSCL1 CNAOJOOOo u
dramatic, but most of them bear an
idyllic character, representing scenes
full Of serenity and repOSe which the
eve dwells on with pleasure. The
realistic tendency is represented by q
certain number of scenes from daily
life, Sucha as the 1Ogging of a ~SchOOlbOy,
a bakers shop, hefullerS at their work.
These are inferior, both in composition
and execution, and are for the most
part found in shops, taverns, and other
places where little heed was paid to the
decoration. They all bear a local
character, each subject occurs only
once, and they have undoubtedly been
designed as well as executed on the
spot, design and execution being on the
same level. Some of the NEUROLOGICAL
compositions have been found, not only
at POmpeii but in other Roman ruins.
and seem to have been the common
property of the Roman world and to
have had a common origin. ButthOugh
these were also executed on the spot,
the greater part of them were evidently
not designed in the Roman Empire.
With few exceptions, such as the Death
of ~SOphOnisba, the only historical sub
ject, Venus coming down to the
wounded Hneas, and one or two others,
the subjects are all Greek. Some OF
them have Greek inscriptions and other
characteristics which all point to q
Greek origin. This confirms what
Pliny and other contemporary writers
say of the condition of art in their day.
When Pliny speaks of painting as &
dying art, it is evident that he means
that the creative power was exhausted
for the frescOes found at POmpeii and
in other Roman ruins show that the
1-o1-Ls1. - - II 1o--4
was still on a high level. The period
of Greek art to which the compositions
can be specially traced is that of Alex
ander the Great and his successors. Il
was in his time that the Athenians be
gan to ornament their houses, which
in the days of Pericles had been of al
austere simplicity. While hitherto al
the splendOr of art had been bestowed
on the temples and public buildings
the painters now began to paint small
panel pictures for the private houses
At a later period these were replaced
by limitations introduced into the wall
decoration, such as we see at POmpeii
a much less costly process, which wa.
very generally adopted. 1t probably
originated in Alexandria, the seat o
Hellenic culture under A~leXander's sue
ceSsOrs, and spread from thence by de
grees Over the whole Roman world
into the palaces Of the Caesars as wei
as the private houses. The subjects O
the compositions have all the charaC
terics of the Alexandrine age. Sine
the great days of Pericles art had en-
tered on a new phase. The Sublim
but sever character of the art O
Phidias had been softenedby the geniu
of Scopas and Praxiteles, and the e1
preston of the emotions had now be
come the study Of the sculptor and tn
painter. The gods Zeus, Athene, Her
were less frequently represented tina.
Demeter, Dionysius, Eros, whose cul
had developed later and was more i
touch with human life and human M
tUre. The artists had not abandone
their ideas, but they rendered the1