House of Augustus opens to public

BBC ^ | Sunday, March 9, 2008 | Christian Fraser

[SunkenCiv]

Almost 50 years ago, archaeologists searching for the ruined house of Augustus found a... single fragment of painted plaster, discovered in masonry-filled rooms... On Sunday following decades of painstaking restoration, the frescoes in vivid shades of blue, red and ochre went on public show for the first time since they were painted in about 30BC. One large room boasts a theatrical theme, its walls painted to resemble a stage with narrow side-doors. High on the wall a comic mask peers through a small window. Other trompe l'oeil designs include an elegant garden vista, yellow columns and even a meticulously sketched blackbird... Archaeologists believe they may have been painted by an Egyptian. In the large entrance hall, graffiti on one wall is believed to have been left by the builders, who seem to have sketched out geometric designs, possibly for mosaic floors, and left their names... Some of his interior decoration was found intact when the Italian archaeologist Professor Gianfilippo Carettoni finally broke through to the rooms in the early 1970s. Other frescoes had to be pieced together from fragments found by a team led by Irene Jacopi, the archaeologist in charge of the Palatine Hill... In November last year archaeologists located a grotto deep beneath Augustus's imperial palace that may have been the shrine where ancient Romans worshipped Romulus, the founder of the city according to legend. Next year archaeologists hope to open to the public Augustus's mausoleum - once a monument in white travertine marble that is now an overgrown ruin.

[SunkenCiv]

One wall is painted with a trompe l'oeil of a theatre	The roof is painted with vivid geometric shapes

[SunkenCiv]

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[YOUGOTIT]

Thank you for the post. Excellent!

[SunkenCiv]

:’) My pleasure.

[Kozak]

I’ll have to get back to Rome. Would love to see the inside of his Palace and his mausoleum.

[YOUGOTIT]

I have been going every other year and usually look at the ruins in the gulf of Pozzuoli. But to see this would be a great trip. Since the rifuiti (trash) has been piled up in Campania for the past four months we will not be going this year. The criminals have made it almost impossible to enjoy a trip there because of the trash. I really hate their guts for that.