Exploring past visual experiences : a comparative analysis of three approaches to things and light in Roman interiors

Abstract

Review products: Campanaro, D. M. 2023. Illumination Matters: Revisiting the Roman House in a New Light. Acta Archaeologica Lundensia Series Altera in 8° 75. Lund: Lund University. Pp. 272, 21 b/w, 54 col. figs, 11 tables b/w. pISBN 978-91-89415-71-3, eISBN 978-91-89415-72-0. Bielfeldt, R., J. Eber, S. Bosche, A. Lutz, and F. Knauß, eds. in collaboration with V. Räuchle, U. Hofstätter, A. Giumlia-Mair, S. Pfisterer-Haas, and C. Graml. 2022. Neues Licht aus Pompeji. Oppenheim: Nünnerich-Asmus Verlag & Media. Pp. 511, 733 col. figs. ISBN 978-3-96176-207-1. Hielscher, A. 2022. ‘Instrumenta domestica’ aus Pompeji und ihr Design: Eine Untersuchung zur decorativen Gestaltung der Kleinfunde aus Insula I 10. Decorative Principles in Late Republican and Early Imperial Italy (Decor) 4. Berlin and Boston: De Gruyter. Pp. 385, 133 b/w, 222 col. figs. pISBN 978-3-11-078538-8, eISBN 978-3-11-078816-7.

Research in Roman interior design and wall painting has undergone two major shifts in the past century. The first, in the 1980s, steered away from the tradition of purely art historical studies that had elucidated the basic principles of artistic developments, iconographies, and pictorial programs. Instead, researchers focused on the Roman house as a social space, with private and public zones inhabited by individuals of different social standing. The second shift, occurring in the new millennium, saw researchers returning to the decoration of the house; however, they were now more intrigued by the cognition and reception of the paintings and how they were conceived to create atmospheres, mnemonic paths, and impressions on their viewers. Simultaneously, important insights into the often-multifunctional use of space were provided by finds analysis.