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The Art of Piety and Profit at Pompeii: A New Interpretation of the Painted Shop Façade at ix.7.1–2*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2009

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There are seventy-four catalogued examples of figured art painted on Pompeian façades, almost all of a religious or talismanic nature. This street art appeared near compital altars and entrances to shops and houses, and contributed to a vibrant street aesthetic. Exterior figured paintings have not received a great deal of scholarly attention, however, with studies tending to focus on iconography rather than considering how street art may have functioned in its original setting. The potential value of painted façades as evidence for religious, commercial, and civic values, for which there are scant literary sources, has consequently been overlooked.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Classical Association 2009

References

* I would like to thank Amanda Claridge for her detailed criticism and support of my study of this and other Pompeian façades. Errors of fact and analysis remain mine alone.