eccellenze-italiane:Villa Poppaea, Oplontis da dave tonkinTramite Flickr:The Villa Poppaea is a R

eccellenze-italiane:Villa Poppaea, Oplontis da dave tonkinTramite Flickr:The Villa Poppaea is a Roman villa situated between Naples and Sorrento, in southern Italy, which dates from the early Imperial times.The villa is a large structure situated in the Roman town of Oplontis (the modern Torre Annunziata), about ten metres below the modern level. It was owned by the Emperor Nero, and used by his second wife Poppaea Sabina as her main residence when not in Rome. The archeological evidence suggests that at the time of the eruption of Vesuvius in 79, the villa was empty, in the process of being rebuilt and redecorated, possibly in the aftermath of the earthquake of 62. The frescoes decorating the walls are among the best preserved, both in form and in colour, of all Imperial Roman frescoes; the roof of the building largely survived the eruption, thus affording protection from the elements. The frescoes are in the Pompeiian Second Style, with feigned architecture with windows that seem to open onto views or perspectives of trompe-l'oeil colonnades, ambitious undertakings that, after Rome’s demise, would not be equalled in Italy until the fifteenth century. -- source link

More pics about