Painters and workshops in Pompeii : identifying craftspeople to understand their working practices

Bologna, Francesca 2016. Painters and workshops in Pompeii : identifying craftspeople to understand their working practices. SHARE: Studies in History, Archaeology, Religion and Conservation 3 (1) , pp. 42-53. 10.18573/j.2016.10076

Preview

PDF Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract

Given the scarcity of documentary sources dealing with ancient craft production, when trying to understand the ancient decorating industry’s organisation the close examination of paintings is essential to scholars. My attempt to investigate Pompeian painters’ working practices rests on the identification of individual painters’ hands, specifically those who painted the figurative elements of the wall decoration. In order to do so, I applied a Morellian-inspired method for attribution of authorship, based on the close study of forms and invariant relations between them. This method allows us to pinpoint peculiar geographical distributions or recurring patterns of collaboration between painters, thus determining where and how they worked. My analysis focuses on Third Style paintings in Pompeii (about 20 BC - AD 45) and so far it has led to the identification of five different groups of attributed works which appear to be loosely clustered in the city. This could either point to the existence of roughly defined working ‘areas’ associated with specific groups of painters or as evidence that said craftsmen worked on different buildings in the same area at about the same time, later moving to a different zone or town. I will present and discuss these two possibilities.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Subjects:	C Auxiliary Sciences of History > CB History of civilization C Auxiliary Sciences of History > CC Archaeology D History General and Old World > DG Italy G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GT Manners and customs N Fine Arts > NC Drawing Design Illustration N Fine Arts > ND Painting N Fine Arts > NK Decorative arts Applied arts Decoration and ornament T Technology > TT Handicrafts Arts and crafts
Publisher:	Cardiff University Press
ISSN:	2055-4893
Date of Acceptance:	22 June 2016
Last Modified:	05 May 2023 18:20
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/93793

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item