Fresco from Villa of P. Fannius Synistor, woman playing a kithara

            Closeup of the large wall painting of a seated woman playing a kithara, from Room H of the Villa of P. Fannius Synistor, Boscoreale (buried in the Vesuvian eruption that destroyed Pompeii). The room was either a triclinium (dining room) or a room for social gatherings (oecus). Each of the paintings that originally adorned this room derives from the Greek tradition of megalographia, or large-scale painting, about which so much was written in antiquity; Apollinaris of Sidonius, Petronius in the Satyricon, and Vitruvius all shed light on the use of megalographia in Roman villas.

In this fresco, the kithara player is depicted as a plump young woman clothed in a purple chiton and white himation. She is adorned with a bracelet, earrings, and headband with a central medallion, all of gold. A small figure of Atlas supports the arm of her elaborately carved chair that originally was lacquered a deep lustrous red. The instrument she plays is not a simple lyre, but a gilded kithara, a large concert instrument played by Apollo and professional musicians. Behind the seated woman stands a small girl wearing a sleeveless purple chiton. She, too, is adorned with a gold headband, bracelet, and loop earrings. Like portrait figures, the woman and the girl gaze directly at the spectator.

Most recently it has been suggested that the pair may represent a Macedonian queen, or princess, and her daughter or younger sister. The gilded kithara and richly adorned, thronelike chair, as well as the carefully rendered gold jewelry and headbands, give the impression of royal personage. Whatever the exact subject, this painting and others in the villa were admired as excellent copies of Hellenistic art that emphasized the erudition and worldliness of the villa's owner.

Roman, Late Republican, candidate. 50-40 BCE. 

Met Museum, New York (03.14.5)

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Taken on: October 28, 2024

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ancient

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Boscoreale

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P. Fannius Synistor

Roman

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himation

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kithara

Macedonian

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Met Museum

wall painting

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Camera: Canon EOS R7, f/5.6, 1/160 sec, 43mm, ISO 4000 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS R7
Lens:	RF-S18-150mm F3.5-6.3 IS STM
Aperture:	f/5.6
Exposure Time:	0.006 sec (1/160)
Focal Length:	43mm
ISO:	4000
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	No Flash
Exposure Program:	Program AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Camera Raw 17.2 (Macintosh)
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