User:Kkevt/sandbox

Possible Sources:

brief summary http://www.mhhe.com/socscience/art/timelines/ancient_rome/html/villa.html

Info on the frescos (what appears to be the main point of interest):

http://www.raichel.org/articlesRaichel/Art-Research/N-vases.htm

http://umich.edu/~kelseydb/Publications/spring2000/pompeii.html

http://www.archaeology.org/issues/124-1403/features/1813-pompeii-saving-the-villa-of-the-mysteries

http://www.stoa.org/diotima/essays/seaford.shtml

Overview[edit source | edit]
(add to end of overview):

One of the defining features that help indentify this as a Dionysian-related mural is the depiction of maenads (devotee of Dionysis). These devotees are often depicted dancing with swirling drapery and were found first on Greek pottery, many of which were made before the cult spread to Italy.

The frescoes are believed to be painted early-middle 1st century.

Though often believed to be a triclinium, the room housing the frescoes may have been a cubiculum (roman room. add link) of the matriarch, which would indicate the martriach being a member of the cult

Interpretation of the Frescoes[edit source | edit]
(add more on these specific frescoes - no background knowledge like the location or whatever - it just jumps right into it)

The frescoes are evidently intended to be all connected with each other, creating a single story.

Since the mural appears to depict a rite of the [[Cult of Dionysus|Dionysian cult]], a large amount of the figures are female. Because of the generally accepted theory of the mural depicting an initiation from the cult of Dionysus, some think that the room the frescoes reside in was used to conduct rituals and celebrations related to the god.

(add at the end)

Another common theory is that the frescoes depict a bride initiating into the cult of Dionysus in preparation for marriage
 * In this hypothesis, the elaborate costume worn by the main figure is believed to be wedding apparel

External links[edit source | edit]
Media related to Villa of the Mysteries (Pompeii) at Wikimedia Commons

[|Preservation of the Villa]