Room M of the Villa of P.
Fannius Synistor at Boscoreale, buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius
in 79 A.D., functioned as a bedroom. The frescoes that decorate the walls
of the room belong to the so-called "Second Style" of Roman
wall-paintings. This style combines lightly ornate architectural features
with more naturalistic landscape scenes. Roman houses, even luxury villas
such as that of Synsiter, were sparsely furnished. Instead, as a sign of
their wealth and sophistication, upper and middle class Romans decorated
their homes with lavish wall-paintings. The Boscoreale frescoes are some
of the finest to have survived from antiquity.
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