HALL OF THE GOLDEN VAULT, 65-68 CE. DOMUS AUREA When Nero's last palace, the massive Domus Aurea, was rediscovered in the late C15, this hall, axially aligned with the centre of one of the two pentagonal recesses of the façade of the pavilion on the Oppian hill, was still decorated with gold leaf on some of the stucco. One huge hole dug in from above came from explorers, the smaller one from a medieval well. This room, despoiled by Trajan of its opus sectile wall panels and floor, was filled with earth. However, much more of its decoration survived in the C16, and the artist Francisco de Hollanda tried to reconstruct it in drawing based on what remained. It is a complex ceiling of stucco frames enclosing rectangular scenes, with roundels that probably had figurative frescoes in them as well. At centre a huge roundel, now entirely lost, contained the ceiling's main image. As we will see, this ceiling became a battleground for competing forms of classical reception.

#FrescoFriday this week dives into one of the most famous #ceilings of #Nero's #DomusAurea: the #GoldenVault, buried under the #Oppian Hill in #Rome. It's an excellent case study in #classicalreception over five centuries. So let's dig in! #AncientBluesky 🏺

Ihmisluonnon alter ego – arviossa Marjo Saarisen selkomukautus Tohtori Jekyll ja herra Hyde - Kulttuuritoimitus KIRJAT | Selkomukautus avaa ilman käsitteitä, pitkiä virkkeitä ja ilmauksia tulkinnan viktoriaanisen ajan klassikkonovellista.

#KIRJAT | Selkomukautus avaa ilman käsitteitä, pitkiä virkkeitä ja ilmauksia tulkinnan viktoriaanisen ajan klassikkonovellista.
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#KritiikinPaluu #kirjataivas #Oppian

Tunnustelen aivojani kuin päärynää – arviossa Virginia Woolfin kirjeet - Kulttuuritoimitus KIRJAT | Rakastan luisevaa vartaloasi -teoksen kirjeet kertovat kirjailijan elämästä 1910-luvun Englannissa.

#KIRJAT | Rakastan luisevaa vartaloasi -teoksen kirjeet kertovat kirjailijan elämästä 1910-luvun Englannissa.
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#KritiikinPaluu #Oppian #kirjataivas

ACHILLES AT SCYROS, 65-68 CE. DOMUS AUREA This is the most famous fresco in Nero's Golden House, because it's the best preserved. It shows the famous scene in the Iliad where Achilles is cross-dressing to hide among the women of the palace of Lycomedes on the island of Scyros to avoid the call-up to go to fight at Troy, but is discovered when Odysseus sets out gifts for the household. The women all rush for the dresses but Achilles grabs weapons and a shield, thereby revealing himself. We see him at centre, heroically nude, wuth the king's daughter Deidameia clinging to him at left as he raises his shield. He does end up going to Troy but not before getting Deidameia pregnant with his horribly precocious son Neoptolemus whom he never meets. Not the first or the last deadbeat dad in ancient mythology. The rest of the ceiling is a complex series of painted stucco frames and small figures against a white background.

#FrescoFriday takes us back underneath the #Oppian Hill to the #DomusAurea of #Nero in the heart of #Rome to admire the incomplete but magnificent ceiling of the Hall of #Achilles at #Scyros, one of the most splendid ceiling compositions surviving from #antiquity. #AncientBluesky 🏺

Eläimet, peikot, hölmöläiset ja prinssit – arviossa Kaarlo Merikosken neljä satukirjaa - Kulttuuritoimitus KIRJAT | Oppian-kustantamo elvyttää vanhaa satuperinnettä tuoreissa kansissa Kaarlo Merikosken tuotantoon perustuvassa kirjasarjassa.

#KIRJAT | Oppian-kustantamo elvyttää vanhaa satuperinnettä tuoreissa kansissa Kaarlo Merikosken tuotantoon perustuvassa kirjasarjassa.
#KritiikinPaluu #Oppian
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THE "PAINTED CITY" FRESCO, C. 90 CE. CRYPTOPORTICUS OF THE BATHS OF TRAJAN This astonishing fresco was found in 1998 at the end of a long (60 m.) gallery underneath the northern exedra of the Baths of Trajan. It shows an unknown city (or two? One might be Londinium) with its turreted walls, and on the left the blue of a river crossed by a bridge and more fortifications. Below, a golden-toned mausoleum and a row of red houses stand near a colonnaded quadriportico, while on the right edge is a temple and other buildings on a hill. In the center of the city stands a golden statue of colossal dimensions at the intersection of two streets. A theatre rises by the river at upper left, next to which stands a statue of Apollo on a high base. This fresco is on the outside of a large building with arches that were filled in when this whole neighbourhood, including the main pavilions of the Domus Aurea, was infilled to form the foundations of the Baths of Trajan. It is long overdue to be opened to the public, along with the jaw-droppingly huge wall mosaic, 16x6m, behind it.

For #FrescoFriday, the most amazing #fresco you've never seen (📸 Sovrintendenza Capitolina) in an underground area of the #Oppian Hill in #Rome. Discovered in 1998, it shows a detailed #city from sometime between the death of #Nero in 68 and before the inauguration of the Baths of #Trajan in 109.