From The 10th February to the 21st May 2023, the Museo archeologico "San Lorenzo" in Cremona hosts an interesting exhibition on Roman Wall Painting, entitled "Pictura Tacitum Poema. Miti e paesaggi dipinti nelle domus di Cremona".
In addition to being important evidence of the development of Roman painting in Cisalpine Gaul from the early 1st century BC until AD 69, the thousands of fragments of painted plaster found during the excavation of the Nymphaeum Domus in Piazza Marconi tell us a lot about the house itself and its owners. A fascinating example is the "Ariadne Room', a cubiculum (room for sleeping) with a series of scenes from a Cretan myth portrayed on the walls: first abandoned by Theseus after his feat of killing the Minotaur, subsequently found asleep on the beach of the island of Naxos by Dionysus, Ariadne finally appears as the triumphant bride of the god. From another excavation in Via Colletta come decorations of the Golden Candelabra Domus, further indications of how widespread refined artistic culture derived from Hellenistic tradition was in Cremona's town-houses. After lengthy studies, analyses and conservation treatment, the significance and beauty of these fragments have also been highlighted by comparison with certain frescoes from Pompeii, Rome, Ostia and Verona, which are featured in the exhibition, accompanied by scenographicmultimedia reconstructions.
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