[Authors and titles are listed at the end of the review.]
The Visual Preservation of Roman Stabiae is the outcome of a significant collective effort led by the University of Maryland to record and survey most of the wall paintings of the Villa Arianna in Stabiae (Campania). This publication, together with the recent monograph by Paolo Gardelli[1], finally provides the long-awaited catalog of Villa Arianna’s frescoes as only the neighboring Villa San Marco had been the subject of such documentation earlier[2]. This valuable work, carried out between 2001 and 2024, was first directed by Robert L. Vann (until 2019) and then by Joseph C. Williams, the editor of this volume, which includes 7 articles from 10 contributors, and aimed to produce digital drawings of 110 walls with frescoes still in situ.
The book is divided into three parts, the first one outlining the context, issue and methodology for the University of Maryland’s survey in Villa Arianna. This comprehensive approach is completed by a second part providing examples of interpretations enabled by the new documentation and discussing the future possibilities offered by their methodology of recording archaeological data using what they call an “Authority Hierarchy”. The third part comprises the illustrated catalog of digital drawings and photogrammetry produced by the faculty members and students from the Architecture, Art History and Archaeology programs of Maryland.
Part I includes the introduction by Williams, who gives a summary of the excavation history at Stabiae, from the first ones conducted by Karl Weber and Francesco La Vega (1760-1778) to their resumption by Libero d’Orsi in the 1950s and the conservation projects in recent decades. Williams also points out the urgency of an archaeological documentation for Villa Arianna due to the edifice’s gradual deterioration. This work’s purpose is not to produce a comprehensive monograph on Villa Arianna, but to acquire accurate scaled and georeferenced illustrations of the frescoes. And, besides the obtained digital drawings, it was the occasion to propose a new state plan (Fig. 3), for which the room’s numbers are unfortunately sometimes difficult to read[3], experiment with different architectural recording techniques, and raise the question of the role of the field architect in the Digital era.
The first contribution by Vann, “The University of Maryland at Stabiae”, presents an overview of the geographical and historical context of the Roman villas in Stabiae with a more detailed account of the excavations, notably the role played by Maryland with Wilhelmina F. Jashemski’s project on ancient gardens (1959-1984)[4] and the collaborations since 1998.
The issues posed by the advancement in digital recording and the new methodology implemented by Maryland’s team are discussed in the third contribution, “The Role of the Field Architect in the Digital Age: Integrating Human and Electronic Recording at the Villa Arianna in Roman Stabiae”, by Williams, Thomas N. Howe, Adan J. Ramos and Gabriel Maslen. Aside from the catalog, this is probably the most valuable article due to the literature review on archaeological recording and technological advancement as well as the presentation of the methods used to produce their wall-by-wall digital drawings of frescoes in architectural context. They assess here the challenges encountered during the survey, such as the length of certain walls causing problems with accurateness or the large variety of archaeological signatures (frescoes, traces of the craftsmen’s work, wall construction, human and natural destruction, restoration). They also describe the processes established during their survey, including the equipment, the type of data collected and their use, and the setting up of an Authority Hierarchy. This last concept, well summarized in a diagram (Fig. 12), refers to the description of the multiple recording techniques used and their sequence to obtain the final digital drawing, i.e., how they relate to one another to determine which one is better depending on the type of information. The Maryland team chose to work with a hand-drawn outline of the painted wall realized first and consulted as reference (authority) for recognizing and differentiating the archaeological signatures during the process of digital drawing. The final product is composed of three layers of data: the first one using a network of georeferenced ground control points obtained with a Total station and serving as authority for the location and scale of the rooms; the second using point clouds for 3-D models of walls and serving as authority for the wall’s dimensions; and the final involving orthophotos for the fresco’s dimension and details. These three levels of information were combined to create an image that was then digitally drawn. The drawing’s line-type hierarchy—thickness and color—is discussed too, the purpose being to clearly display the various information, especially the archaeological signatures.
This first part concludes with a descriptive catalog, by Ian Sutherland, destined to offer a textual record of the frescoes. It is worth noting that it provides readers unfamiliar with the Roman wall painting vocabulary with a useful diagram of the zone system in Third and Fourth Pompeian Style (Fig. 13) and a glossary. Sutherland chose to present the paintings of the 42 digitalized rooms, not in the order of the room numbers, but by clusters of affiliated spaces. He identified 9 groups for which he gives a short introduction (room’s dating, relationship between them, and spatial function) before briefly describing each room, its wall paintings and current preservation according to their orientation in the room[5]. The only real critique concerns the lack of systematic order in the orientation: one time, East and West Walls are described before the South Wall, another time the South Wall comes first. This problem could have been solved by following the order of the cardinal directions proposed in the digital catalog (East, North, South, West).
Part II, “Paths for Interpretation” presents two examples of art historical interpretation made possible by the new documentation. Maryl B. Gensheimer, in “Enlivening Images: The Experience of the Wall Paintings at the Villa Arianna”, explores the possible interplays between the iconographical elements within Villa Arianna, their architectural environment, and their interaction with the viewers. She examines different themes, such as fictive architecture, faux marbles and natural world, to demonstrate how they can be used to create dynamic (enlivening) interactions, either by framing the outside view (e.g. Room 12’s paintings surrounding the two windows overlooking the Bay of Naples invite the viewers to expand their gaze), by dialoguing with the surrounding spaces (Rooms M, N, O and R present vines, flowering plants and birds referring to the garden peristyle they surround), and by highlighting details to invite scrutiny. Thus, in Room 9, famous for its so-called Tapetenmuster, each rhombus is adorned with a figure, a bird, a rosette or a medallion, which present both similarities and variations.
The second article by Amanda K. Chen, “Prestige, Illusion, and the Role of Architectural Supports in the Villa Arianna Frescoes”, proposes to study a recurring motif throughout Villa Arianna: fictive architectural elements used as support, i.e. columns, pilasters, and for some unexplained reason, candelabra, a type of lighting furniture. She decided to focus on the Second Style’s rooms 37, 44 and 45 and show how their decoration interacts with their surroundings, especially with the Fourth Style’s Front Peristyle. It would have been interesting to revisit Mario Grimaldi, Alix Barbet and Maud Mulliez’s discussion on the painting’s modification of Rooms 44 and 45 as repentance or a later restoration[6]. Chen also announces how her corpus will be analyzed to consider the “experience of viewing a fresco within a space” (p. 63) and then quotes authors whose work does not involve domestic decoration, but urban architecture and reliefs[7]. It would have been preferable to mention at least Daniela Scagliarini Corlàita here, especially as the author acknowledges the ability of frescoes to both structure space and elicit reactions from the viewers and quotes her later (p. 64)[8]. She insists on the dynamic nature of Roman frescoes but contradicts herself later in the chapter,[9] and concludes that Villa Arianna is not well-known by scholars, whereas Villa Arianna’s paintings figure prominently in the discussions on Tapetenmuster and Zebrapattern[10].
A last contribution by Williams and Artur Kalil, “Frontiers in the Archaeology of Standing Structures and their Ornaments”, concludes Part 2 and reflects on the opportunities offered by this new primary documentation for the analysis of paintings in context at Villa Arianna and the role of the field architects amid the constant advancement of new technologies. This last issue was previously raised in the third chapter, which stated that the new methodology could be applied to other Roman houses in Pompeii, Herculaneum, and even Baiae (p. 18), for which it can be debatable as the challenges are vastly different here than the one encountered at Villa Arianna. Beside the various archaeological signatures on the Baiae’s walls[11] and the location of some paintings on semi-buried barrel vaults with no even light source and insufficient vertical clearance for standing, the preservation is much better at Villa Arianna, notably in the Front Peristyle, Rooms 21 and 27, Area G, and Room S, which were set aside because of their state of conservation (p. 77, Fig. 33-36, 40-44, 46), than in Baiae’s Archaeological Park[12]. However, the work accomplished by the Maryland team and their innovative methodology are to be commended and, indeed, should be applied whenever possible. Their positive take on the perception that technologies are continuously evolving, rendering earlier methods obsolete, is also quite interesting as they assert that only the archaeologists and field architects, not the machine, can control the research goal and define the boundaries, e.g. the choice of an automated method for photogrammetry allowed more time for hand-drawn encoding.
Part III, the catalog itself, is the result of the project and the impressive core of this monograph which comprises, as already said, the digital drawings and photogrammetry of 110 in situ frescoes.
This publication is a fundamental contribution to the knowledge of Villa Arianna and we hope Maryland’s team will complete this work in the future as parts of the villa remain to be studied.
Bibliography
Barbet, Miniero 1999: A. Barbet, P. Miniero (edd.), La Villa San Marco a Stabia, Naples, Rome, Pompeii 1999.
Davies 1997: P.J.E. Davies, “The Politics of Perpetuation: Trajan’s Column and the Art of Commemoration”, in AJA 101, 1, 1997, pp. 41–56.
Davies 2000: P.J.E. Davies, Death and the Emperor. Roman Imperial Funerary Monuments from Augustus to Marcus Aurelius, Cambridge 2000.
Favro, Johanson 2010: D. Favro, C. Johanson, “Death in Motion: Funeral Processions in the Roman Forum”, in Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 69, 1, 2010, pp. 12–37.
Favro 1996: D.G. Favro, The Urban Image of Augustan Rome, Cambridge 1996.
Gardelli 2024: P. Gardelli, Villa Arianna at Stabiae. History, Art and Architecture of a Roman Villa in the Bay of Naples, Berlin, Boston 2024.
Grimaldi 2007: M. Grimaldi, “Le fase repubblicana della Villa di Arianna a Stabia”, in B. Perrier (ed.), Villas, maisons, sanctuaires et tombeaux tardo-républicains: découvertes et relectures récentes: actes du Colloque international de Saint-Romain-en-Gal en l’honneur d’Anna Gallina Zevi, Vienne-Saint-Romain-en-Gal, 8-10 février 2007, Rome 2007, pp. 177–194.
Jashemski et Al. 2018: W.F. Jashemski, K.L. Gleason, K.J. Hartswick, A.-A. Malek (edd.), Gardens of the Roman Empire, Cambridge 2018.
Joshel, Hackworth Petersen 2019: S.R. Joshel, L. Hackworth Petersen, “Chapter 9. Seeing Slaves at Villa A”, in J.R. Clarke, N.K. Muntasser (edd.), Oplontis: Villa A («of Poppaea») at Torre Annunziata, Italy. Volume 2. The Decorations: Painting, Stucco, Pavements, Sculptures, New York 2019, pp. 875–941.
Kaszubska 2024: D.W. Kaszubska, “Tapetenmuster nella pittura parietale vesuviana”, in BABesch 99, 2024, pp. 179–191.
Laken 2001: L. Laken, “Wallpaper Patterns in Pompeii and the Campanian Region: Toward a Fifth Pompeian Style ?”, in A. Barbet (ed.), La peinture funéraire antique. IVe siècle av. J.-C.-IVe siècle apr. J.-C. Actes du VIIe Colloque de l’AIPMA, (Saint-Romain-en-Gal/Vienne, 6-10 octobre 1998), Paris 2001, pp. 295–300.
Laken 2003: L. Laken, “Zebrapatterns in Campanian wall painting: a matter of function”, in BABesch 78, 2003, pp. 167–189.
Mulliez 2014: M. Mulliez, Le luxe de l’imitation. Les trompe-l’œil à la fin de la République romaine, mémoire des artisans de la couleur, Naples 2014.
Narès 2023: L. Narès, Les complexes monumentaux de Baïes (Ier s. av. J.-C. – IIIe s. apr. J.-C.): phases d’aménagement et identification des espaces à partir des décors, PhD’s thesis, Sorbonne Université, Paris 2023.
Narès 2025a: L. Narès, “A study in Context: Analysing the Decors preserved in the Archaeological Park of Baiae (Italy, Campania)”, in A. Fernández Díaz, G. Castillo Alcántara (edd.), ANTIQVilla Arianna PICTVRA. Técnicas y procesos de ejecución, conservación y puesta en valor. Actas del XV Congresso Internacional AIPMA (Cartagena, 12-16 settembre 2022), Cartagena 2025, pp. 137–143.
Narès 2025b: L. Narès, «Compte-rendu: “Tapetenmuster nella pittura parietale vesuviana” de Domenika W. Kaszubska (BABesch, 99, 2024, p. 179-191). Retour sur la problématique du “style tapisserie” dans la peinture vésuvienne», in MOIRES – Archéologie et anthropologie du textile <https://doi.org/10.58079/14jbq>, 2025.
Perrier 2007: B. Perrier (ed.), Villas, maisons, sanctuaires et tombeaux tardo-républicains: découvertes et relectures récentes: actes du Colloque international de Saint-Romain-en-Gal en l’honneur d’Anna Gallina Zevi, Vienne-Saint-Romain-en-Gal, 8-10 février 2007, Rome 2007, pp. 195–205.
Rauws 2015-2016: J.E. Rauws, “Zebra Stripes: Minimal Art as “Fifth Style” wall painting in Roman Campania”, in RSP 26–27, 2015-2016, pp. 53–59.
Scagliarini Corlàita 1974-1976: D. Scagliarini Corlàita, “Spazio e decorazione nella pittura pompeiana”, in Palladio 23–25, 1974-1976, pp. 3–44.
Stewart 2004: P. Stewart, Roman Art, Oxford 2004.
Stewart 2008: P. Stewart, The Social History of Roman Art, Cambridge 2008.
Authors and titles
Part I. The University of Maryland Survey of the Villa Arianna Frescoes
Introduction: The Illuminating Challenge of the Villa Arianna Survey – Joseph C. Williams
- The University of Maryland at Stabiae – Robert L. Vann
- The Role of the Field Architect in the Digital Age: Integrating Human and Electronic Recording at the Villa Arianna in Roman Stabiae – Joseph C. Williams, Thomas N. Howe, Adan J. Ramos, Gabriel Maslen
- Descriptions of the Frescoed Rooms at the Villa Arianna – Ian Sutherland
Part II. Paths for Interpretation
- Enlivening Images: The Experience of the Wall Paintings at the Villa Arianna – Maryl B. Gensheimer
- Prestige, Illusion, and the Role of the Architectural Supports in the Villa Arianna Frescoes – Amanda K. Chen
Conclusion: Frontiers in the Archaeology of Standing Structures and their Ornaments – Joseph C. Williams and Artur Kalil
Notes
[1] Gardelli 2024.
[2] Barbet, Miniero 1999.
[3] The reader is obliged to compare the convenient little maps associated with the digital drawings in the catalog with this plan or to consult other publications such as Plan 3 in Gardelli 2024.
[4] Jashemski et al. 2018.
[5] The orientation is indicated in italics to better navigate the text.
[6] Grimaldi 2007 ; Perrier 2007, p. 195 ; Mulliez 2014, pp. 167–169.
[7] Favro 1996 ; Davies 1997 ; 2000 ; Favro, Johanson 2010.
[8] Scagliarini Corlàita 1974-1976.
[9] Chen writes to “Bearing in mind the dynamic nature of the frescoes (…)” (p. 64) and then indicates “Despites their static nature, Roman wall paintings (…)” (p. 69).
[10] Among others for the Tapetenmuster studies, see Laken 2001 ; Kaszubska 2024 (for previous bibliography) ; Narès 2025 and for the Zebrapattern studies, see Rauws 2015-2016, p. 53 ; Laken 2003, p. 184 and Joshel, Hackworth Petersen 2019, p. 906-912. This last reference appears in the bibliography as Joshel, and Peterson 2019.
There are mistakes in the bibliography and citations. For Favro, Johanson 2010: Johanson is not quoted in the text (p. 63) but fortunately appears in the bibliography. Stewart 2004 is quoted (p. 64), but there is only Stewart 2008 in the bibliography. There are also typographical errors in the names of Domenico Camardo in the bibliography, Eric M. Moormann in the text (p. 68) and Daniela Scagliarini Corlàita in the text (p. 64) and the bibliography. It would have been useful to have a reference or a photograph about the “three-dimensional metal attachments in the shape of leaves and vines decorating a recently excavated column fragment from the Villa San Marco” (p. 65), especially since the author includes photos of very well-known material (figs. 26-28).
[11] Baiae’s walls comprise different decorative technique and chronological phases, e.g. in the Mercury’s sector, Room SB-E0-R06 presents a first phase executed using the fresco technique, the second using the opus musivum one, see Narès 2025a, fig. 10. Another example, corridor SB-E0-K-II preserves three phases, the first two in the fresco technique, the third one in the lime-paint technique, see Narès 2023, vol. 2, cat. SB-E0-K-II and Narès 2025a, fig. 6.
[12] On Baiae’s wall decoration, see Narès 2023.